The Letter
by TheForceIsStrongWithThisOne
Summary: Beast Boy receives a letter he wasn't expecting. His life is about to change because of it. Chapter 15 is posted! The story is complete
1. Chapter 1

It was a slow and lazy afternoon in the Tower. The crime alert had been silent for days and the four teens in the common were finding ways to keep themselves busy.

Robin and Cyborg were seated on the crescent shaped couch playing some first person shoot 'em up game against anonymous players over the internet. They exchanged friendly banter as they repeatedly fragged their opponents.

Raven was seated in her usual spot at the end of the couch, with a mug of herbal tea and a scone which she had been slowly nibbling as she read old book that looked so ancient that it looked that it was ready to crumble into dust.

Beast Boy was in the kitchen. He opened the freezer, from where he extracted a one gallon tub of chocolate flavored tofutti.

"Who wants some ice cream!?" He shouted.

"Is it real ice cream?" Cyborg replied while he continued to play.

"Of course it is!"

"It isn't that disgusting soy-boy crap I saw in the freezer, is it?"

"What's wrong with soy? And I'm not a soy-boy!"

"I ain't eating that crap."

"Why?"

"Cuz it lowers your testosterone, B. It turns you into a soy boy."

"There's nothing wrong with my testosterone levels! Robin, how about you?"

"I'll pass … sorry Beast Boy."

The changeling snorted, then looked at the sorceress.

"How about you, Raven? It tastes good and is good for you."

"Sorry; but I also pass."

"Oh come one, Rave! Your my girl friend. Back me up on this!

She put her book down. "Gar, we agreed to respect each other's diets. I respect that you don't eat ice cream, please respect that I don't eat fake ice cream. And speaking of real ice cream, I believe there is a tub of mint chocolate chip ice cream in the freezer. Would you scoop me some?"

He frowned as he accepted his defeat. "Fine, but you don't know what your missing."

The green Titan scooped Raven her ice cream, and took it to her.

"Thank you." She replied, then rewarded him with a soft kiss on the lips. Robin and Cyborg briefly took their eyes off the screen to watch the highly unusual public display of affection. A loud explosion was heard on the surround sound system.

"Ah man, I got fragged."

Robin's character was also killed during his brief distraction.

"Get your tofutti and sit next to me." Raven said with a sly smile on her face.

Beast Boy read her mind and raced to the kitchen. Before you could say 'Monsieur Mallah has bad breath' he was back and sitting next to his gray girlfriend. After each eating a spoonful of their treats, Raven leaned over and traced her index finger over his ear, spending extra time caressing its pointy end.

"Oh mama, you know what I like." He groaned.

 _Don't look, don't look … dammit, I gotta look._

Once again, Robin's and Cyborg's video game characters were killed. The two Titans grumbled, but said nothing else. Beast Boy removed one of his gloves and caressed Raven's bare thigh.

"Gar, not here." Here voice warbled.

Once again, the sound of virtual grenades exploding echoed in the room and the games's soldiers screamed as they died.

"You two, stop that!" Robin shouted.

The Chromatically Challenged Couple began to kiss, while Beast Boy's hand wandered to her midsection, venturing perilously close to her bosom. The guys stared slack jawed at them, while their characters were repeatedly killed, until a computer voice announced: "Game Over. Losers: Cyborg and Robin."

The amorous couple instantly desisted in their endeavor and resumed eating their desserts.

"You did that on purpose, so we would lose!" Robin shouted as he pointed an accusatory finger at them.

Raven looked up from her bowl with a blank look on her face. "We have no idea of what you're talking about."

Before Robin could reply the sliding doors swished open and Starfire entered with a box labeled "United States Postal Service"

"The mail call!" She shouted before beginning to distributing the day's incoming mail, which mostly consisted of fan mail. Raven tossed her fan mail into the recycling bin, since she never read it. Her only other correspondence that day was junk mail, which she also threw away.

The changeling had at one time read his fan mail, but once Raven became his girlfriend he began to throw his away as well, even though Raven said he didn't have to do so. As he sorted through his mail he found one letter that was certified.

"What's this?" He asked.

Starfire was reading her fan mail, which was copious. "I do not know, but I had to do the signing for it."

Gar took a closer look at it. "It's from some lawyers: Dewey, Cheatham and Howe … is someone suing me?"

"There's only one way to find out." Raven replied.

He tore the envelope open and read that letter silently. When he was done he looked astonished and muttered "No. way." as he handed the letter to Raven who also read it silently. She too suddenly looked surprised.

"What does it say?" Robin asked.

"Go ahead, read it out loud." Gar said in a still amazed voice.

Raven nodded and began to read.

"Dear Mr. Logan,

We are contacting you on behalf of your estranged cousin, Cindy Logan, daughter of your uncle Bill Logan. Your uncle Bill and Aunt Deborah recently died in a car accident, and we have determined that you are Cindy's only living relative. Being that you are now 18 years of age you can legally become her guardian. We would like to discuss your officially taking on this responsibility, if you do not, Cindy will have to be placed in foster care as she is still a minor. Please contact us as soon as possible. We can meet either at out office in downtown Jump City or we can meet you at Titans Tower ..."

Raven stopped reading. "It's signed by Gordon Howe … Gar, you didn't know about her, did you?"

He shook his head in dismay. "I didn't even know I had an uncle Bill." He said in a breathless voice.

"Perhaps they thought you were dead. You didn't announce your real identity until a few months ago." She replied.

He leaned forward and cradled his head in his hands. "I had an uncle, my dad had a brother and I didn't know … and now he's dead too."

"Maybe he isn't your uncle." Robin said in a very matter of fact voice.

"Maybe it's a scam." Cyborg added.

"I need to find out."

"We're doin' a DNA test." Cyborg said as he crossed his arms.

"That's a given." Raven replied. "But the real question is what do we do with her if she is his cousin?"

"We?" Robin asked.

"Gar would be her only living relative."

"Rave's right, I can't turn my back on her."

"Grass stain has a point. Once the word gets out, she'll be in danger. I could see Slade kidnapping her and keeping her as a hostage to control BB."

Robin sighed. "I'll call the lawyers. They're bringing her here and I want you to do the DNA test, Cyborg."

"Oh, I wouldn't trust it to any lab."

Raven noticed that Beast Boy was very quiet.

"Gar, are you OK?"

He looked up at her, but said nothing.

"I understand how important this is." She said.

Finally he spoke. "I might actually have family … I mean, you guys have always been my family; but ..."

Starfire wrapped her arms around him. "I do understand, dear friend. You are like the brother to me and I am happy that you have found Cindy."

"More like she found him. And I also understand. This is a really big deal." Raven interjected.

Starfire released him.

"Guys, I kind of need to be alone and think about this."

"We understand, evergreen."

 _ **-( - )-**_

Beast Boy paced around in his room, with the letter in his hand. He had reread it at least twenty times, hoping to glean some more information about who Cindy Logan was.

"Why didn't they send a picture of her?" He grumbled to himself.

He was feeling completely overwhelmed when his train of thought was interrupted by a soft knock on his door. He would recognize that knock anywhere.

"It's open."

The door slid open and Raven entered. "They're bringing her over."

"Now!?"

"Yes, now, they should be here in 20 minutes. Gar, you know I'm here for you."

"I know … what am I gonna do? I can't be her dad!"

"No one is expecting you to do that. You can't take her father's place, just like no one could take your father, Mark Logan's place. Legally, she does need a guardian, but what she really needs is her cousin."

"If she really is my cousin."

"We should know that in less than an hour."

"And if she is ..."

"We will take her in and protect her."

"Rave … I'm so scared."

"I understand … Gar, I'd like to try your tofutti."

"You would?"

"Yes. Let's go have some and relax while we wait for her to arrive … and something else … your hand got dangerously close to my chest today."

He smiled. "It was fully under control, no way that was happening. But you have to admit, it worked."

"No arguing with that … Gar?"

She took his hand as the walked to the door.

"Later tonight, you can touch."

"I can!?" He gasped.

Lovingly and respectfully."

He looked bewildered. "Is that even possible?"

"You do love and respect me, right?"

"Of course."

"Then it is possible."

As they exited the room the changeling, his problems at least temporarily forgotten, had a huge grin on his face.

 _Dude! I'm going to second base!_

Raven of course could feel the changeling's change in demeanor.

 _The things I do for you, green bean._

 _ **As if you don't want it.**_ One of her emoticlones replied in a disembodied voice in her mind.

 _Don't make me come in there._

 _ **-(-)-**_

 _About twenty minutes later ..._

Starfire, Cyborg, Beast Boy and Raven stood in front of the elevator doors. Robin had gone down to receive the lawyer and Cindy Logan. They waited patiently until finally they saw on floor counter on the wall that the elevator was on its way up. Finally the display said "C", which meant it had arrived at the common room.

Raven was holding his hand and as the door began to open she squeezed it. Robin came out first and he looked amazed. The lawyer came next, the as he moved over, Raven saw her. She stifled a gasp. Her first thought was that perhaps a DNA test wasn't even necessary.

Cindy Logan looked like she could be Garfield's long lost sister. The resemblance was simply amazing, even if she had blond hair and a normal complexion.

 _ **-(-)-**_

OK, readers, what do you think? Are you intrigued? Is she really BB's cousin, or is this some diabolical setup?

If there is interest, I will continue.


	2. Chapter 2

Cindy, who appeared to be in daze, exited the elevator, until she saw Garfield, who saw her at about the same time. At first they froze, then ran to each other. They stopped short, about five feet between them.

"Whoa!" She gurgled.

"Dude!" He replied.

Cindy was blond and slightly shorter than Garfield, who was now taller than Raven. The sorceress watched carefully as the scene unfolded. The girl appeared to be younger than they were, fourteen or maybe fifteen years old.

Gordon Howe opened his briefcase and pulled out a sheaf of papers.

"Once you sign these papers, I'll be on my way."

Cyborg was the only one present who seemed unimpressed with the young blond.

"I'd like to do a DNA test first, before B signs anything."

Howe pursed his lips before answering. "Understandable, but it's obvious they are kin. Will this take long?"

"Ten minutes, tops."

"Very well, proceed."

Cyborg took saliva samples from both Beast Boy and Cindy, and quickly left for the lab. Robin gestured for everyone to sit at the table, which they did. Once they settled in, Raven spoke.

"Cindy, I know you're going through a very difficult time, and I will share with you that all of us have also lost our parents; but we, and that includes Gar, are wondering why we've never heard of you or your parents. Gar had no idea any of you existed."

A sad expression spread over her face.

"I didn't know that Garfield existed, until a few days ago, after the accident." Her voice warbled.

Raven placed a hand on her forearm. "We aren't angry with you … it's just been very unsettling for Gar to learn all this; and I will admit for me too."

Cindy wiped away her tears. "My parents explained it in their will." She looked at Howe, who nodded.

"I'll explain. Cindy was born around the time Garfield got sick. Her parents were afraid that he was contagious. They wrote to Mark and Marie, telling them that they would like to wait until there was no doubt that they couldn't catch Sakutia and that Garfield would survive … then there was the canoe accident. They thought that Garfield died with his parents, since their remains were never found, they had no idea that he could morph and save himself. Then the government came to collect Garfield and when the agents became aware of his powers they chose to not tell Bill that Garfield was still alive. And given that Garfield lived far away and was very young, he never met his uncle and apparently was not told about him or he simply forgot."

"That's quite a story … you wouldn't happen to have a picture of Bill Logan?" Robin remarked.

"I have one in my briefcase."

Howe rummaged through his attache case and handed a photo to Beast Boy. Gar looked at it and frowned.

"Is something wrong?"

"This is a picture of my dad."

"While I cannot ascertain this, I believe that your father and uncle were identical twins. We know from their birth certificates that they were twins, but we weren't sure they were identical. It now appears that they were." He handed Gar a copy of Bill Logan's birth certificate. There was an X in the 'multiple births' checkbox. The birthday was the same as his father's.

Just then Cyborg returned from his lab.

"Well?" Howe asked.

"They're related all right … but what's odd is that they share 65% of their DNA. That's kind of rare for cousins."

"Gar and Cindy are the half siblings." Starfire quickly remarked.

"What!?"Cybirg shrieked.

"Gar and Cindy do not share parents, but since their fathers were identical twins, from a purely genetic perspective they are half siblings, and the DNA test proves that." Raven calmly explained.

"Their dad's are twins?" Cyborg shrieked

"They are."

Gar stood up. "Cy, is what Raven just said correct?"

"Uh … yeah … it would explain why you and Cindy share so much DNA."

He turned to the blond girl. "So you're my sister."

She wiped away some tears with the back of her hand. "And you're my brother."

Howe cleared his throat. "Legally, you're cousins, even if biology says something else."

Beast Boy grabbed the papers. "Where do I sign?"

"Here … as Garfield Mark Logan please, and here … and here. I need a witness too , someone without a secret identity, if you please."

"I can do it." Raven replied. Howe showed her where to sign and she signed "Raven Roth". Howe collected the papers and gave Garfield a copy of them.

"Cindy has an insurance paid trust fund, it should be more than enough to cover all her expenses. Garfield you will be her trustee until she turns 18, then she can spend it as she sees fit."

"I understand, I had one of those too, except my trustee stole it."

"Yes, we learned about Mr. Register. That was most unfortunate. Anyway, it's time for me to leave. I'll have Cindy's possessions sent from the foster home tomorrow." He looked at Raven. "You have something she can wear until then?"

"We are about the same size and I do have some civvies and some pajamas she can wear tonight."

Cindy looked overwhelmed. "Thanks … I know that we've never met before … but I feel … OK … I'm not alone anymore."

"You're a member of our family now." Robin remarked before escorting Howe back to his car.

Cindy took a deep breath. "I still can't believe it ... my parents died three days ago and now I learned that I have a brother, a brother who's a super hero. I've lived all my life here in Jump and you were here and I didn't know ..." She broke down crying.

Gar wrapped his arms around her. "You have three brothers and two sisters."

"Friend Beast Boy is correct. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Starfire, I am from the planet Tamaran, where my name is Koriand'r. I have long considered Beast Boy to be my brother, so you are now my sister."

"Star's also a princess … pretty cool, huh?"

The sorceress nodded at Cindy. "And I'm Raven."

"Yes, I know who all of you are, I mean, everyone in Jump knows who you are … are you also Garfield's honorary sister?" She sniffled.

"Actually, I'm his girlfriend."

Cindy smacked her forehead. "Of course you are. Everyone knows that … so, does that mean that someday you're going to be my sister in law? And … are you also a princess?"

Raven smiled one of her tiny Raven smiles. "I think it might still be premature to assume that, but; it isn't out of the question. As for being a princess … not exactly. I also welcome you to the Tower and our extended family." She then gestured at the Tin Man.

"I'm Cyborg, but you can call me Vic. I'm the Tower's quartermaster. I'll be getting a room put together for you soon. Until then I'm sure you can bunk with one of the girls."

"Oh yes, yes! You can stay with me! We can do the hair braiding and the painting of the toenails. And I will take you to the mall of shopping! And tonight will also eat the iced cream … Raven, you will join us?"

Raven felt a sensation of relief flood over her. Cindy was clearly distraught and would be in far better hands with Starfire.

"I suppose I can join you later."

"Welcome to Titans Tower." Robin exclaimed, as he had already returned.

 _ **-(-)-**_

As promised, Starfire took Cindy to her room, with a tub of ice cream and a box of cookies in hand. As they entered the room Cindy's eye grew wide.

"Pink is your favorite color, huh?"

"Oh yes, it is the most glorious of colors." She put the food down and began to call out in a sing song voice: "Here Silkie, come here Silkie! I am home and have brought a new friend!"

The blond looked a little perplexed. "Is Silkie your cat?"

"He is my bumgorph … Silkie, where are you?"

"Bumgorph?"

"There you are!" Starfire exulted as she bent over on the far side of her bed to pick up the still unseen pet. She stood up and turned around, proudly presenting her beloved larvae to her guest.

"What is that thing!?" Cindy shrieked.

"He is a giant moth larvae."

"You mean he's one of Killer Moth's monsters?"

Star kissed her dear bug. "Silkie is not a monster."

"He will be once he goes through metamorphosis!"

"They only become moths when subjected to a special hormone developed by Killer Moth, and even then the process is reversible." Starfire then attempted to hand Silkie to her new friend. "Do you wish to hold him?"

"I'll pass."

"As you wish, So, shall we begin with the braiding or the toenail painting?"

"Braiding … I'll braid you first. You have nice hair, Starfire."

"Glorious! Let us sit! Friend Raven does not do the braiding, as her hair is too short."

They were interrupted by a gentle knock on the door."

"That must be Raven. Enter friend! The door is open."

Raven had to suppress a smile as she entered, because Silkie was trying to snuggle up to Cindy, who tried, as discretely as she could, to push Silkie away. Using her dark energy, Raven scooped up the grub and deposited it in it's crib. Cindy mouthed a silent 'thank you' to the sorceress. Raven sat down on the floor with them.

"So, braiding hair … looks like fun. Too bad my hair is too short for that." She droned in her monotone. "Cindy, would you like some ice cream or cookies?"

"Both please." She replied as she took a good look at Raven. She had seen pictures of both girls in newspapers and magazines before, but they didn't do justice to their unusual pigmentation. Starfire had orange skin and unnaturally red hair. Raven was as gray as an overused ashtray in in a bar and her hair was violet. It occurred to her that Raven did not dye her hair.

"So you ladies have super powers, that must be really cool."

"Actually neither of us do." Raven replied as she scooped ice cream for all three of them.

"But you can both fly and ..."

"Starfire is not human. Her abilities are natural for her species. Hence they are not 'super powers', at least not for her."

"I … see … Raven are you also ..." Her voice trailed off.

"I am half human. My abilities are natural for my non human half.:

Cindy considered asking Raven what that half was, but thought better of it. She would ask Gar later.

"You must attend high school." Raven asked.

"Yeah, I go to Murakami school, I'm a freshman."

Starfire leaned over and sniffed the girl.

"You do indeed smell fresh, but you are a female and not a man. I am confused, but then I am often confused by the Earth terminology."

"It means that she is a first year student in high school." Raven attempted to explain.

"I see, but wouldn't she be a freshwoman and not freshman?"

Cindy giggled as she finished braiding Star's hair. "I've thought the same thing. Raven, do you like being my brother's girlfriend?"

"I wouldn't be his girlfriend if I didn't … Cindy, I was just with Gar before coming here. He is just as flabbergasted learning about you as you are learning that he's your cousin. I am wondering if you should consider yourselves siblings, in fact I talked with Gar about this. He seems OK calling you his sister, but I have to admit, I find it somewhat … strange … and I know I'm one to talk. If I had a middle name, it would be Strange."

"I … I guess I find it comforting to think of him as my half brother."

"Which I fully understand."

"Friend Cindy, do you have the boyfriend?"

"My parents wouldn't let me date."

"Hopefully, that will change. But for now you'll have to stay in the Tower." Raven calmly remarked.

"I do? Why?"

"We have many enemies. And since you do not have powers nor were trained by Batman you could be a target."

Cindy paled. "A target?"

"You could be kidnapped and held hostage to control us. Don't worry, we'll figure something out so you go out. Cyborg has some holographic disguising technology you can use. Gar and I are taking you out to lunch tomorrow, so you don't get cabin fever."

"Thank you, Raven."

The sorceress got up.

"You ladies will excuse me, I need to go meditate. I'll see you in the morning."

Raven left and closed the door behind her.

"Does she always talk in that deadpan?"

Starfire nodded. "Raven is complicated."

"Complicated? What do you mean?"

Star smiled. "Perhaps that is best left to discuss another day."

 _ **-(-)-**_

Raven walked quietly walked down the hall, but walked past her room. Instead, she stopped in front of Beast Boy's room. She knocked on the door, which he opened.

"You're back?"

She entered his room closing the door behind her.

"We're taking your cousin out for lunch tomorrow. I suggest we take her to the Good Earth. They can handle bunny food munchers like you and people like me who eat real food."

"Very funny, Rave. But yeah, it's a good choice."

She sat down on his lower bunk.

"So what'cha wanna do? Watch a video?" He asked.

With a complete poker face she replied.

"I made you a promise this afternoon. I intend to keep it."

 _ **-(-)-**_

 _The next day, lunchtime ..._

A seagull hovered overhead, gliding on the warm afternoon thermals, poised to steal an unguarded morsel from the bay side restaurant's outdoor terrace. It was a perfect day, there wasn't a cloud in the sky and the temperature was pleasant. The seagull swooped down to poach a stray piece of bread left on an empty table, but was intercepted by a scary looking obsidian colored bat like creature, which chased it away. Its mission accomplished, the bat dissolved and disappeared.

Cindy did her best to not stare at the Chromatically Challenged Couple. In less than 24 hours she went from living with foster parents who served her disgusting food for dinner to living in the city's most famous landmark and her roommates were the town's beloved superheroes.

But that wasn't all of it. She learned that her previously unknown cousin was the world famous Beast Boy, and he was sitting across the table from her. In the sunlight he looked even greener than when she first met him. His ears looked even pointier and his fang seemed to stick out more than before. But what really unnerved her was how much they looked alike. She figured that if she were to dye her hair and wear green makeup that she could pass as his double.

And then there was Raven, his cousin's strange girlfriend, as in Strange with a capital 'S'. In the bright sunlight her complexion was even more ashen and her hair looked even more violet. If asked she would agree that Raven was very pretty, in a Morticia Addams kind of way. And she always spoke in that creepy monotone. She wondered what she was like when she made out with Gar, but quickly decided she didn't want to know.

"So … I've never been here before. What do you guys recommend?"

"You gotta try the Buddha Burrito!" Gar enthused.

"I don't recommend that." Raven added in her monotone, then frowned. "Gar hoodwinked me once into trying it, but forget to tell me it has tofu in it. I don't like tofu."

Cindy suppressed a grimace as she also hated tofu. It was rarely reported in the news that Beast Boy was a vegetarian, but she remembered hearing that a few times.

"So, Raven; I take that you're not a vegetarian."

"Your take is correct."

"So, what do you recommend?"

"I like the Jump City sandwich."

"Which is a carnivore nightmare." He interjected.

"It has ham, turkey, roast beef and bacon on a crescent roll with guacamole."

"That sounds like my kind of sandwich." Cindy agreed.

"You're a Logan, you can't eat meat!" He protested,

"Gar, were your parents vegetarians?" His gray beauty asked.

"You know they weren't … but just because … oh, forget it. You two go ahead and eat the remains of poor innocent animals that were murdered."

Cindy burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"You are, I didn't know you were one of those."

"A one of what!?"

Raven placed a hand on her beau's shoulder and he immediately calmed down. Cindy was impressed.

The waiter arrived and took their order.

The bay was crawling with boats of all kinds as people took their watercraft out to enjoy the splendid day. As they ordered they failed to notice that one of the boats, a small yacht, had cast anchor a few hundred feet away. A small window on the boat opened and a camera lens poked out, and the shutter could be heard, snapping away dozens of times. After a few minutes the lens receded back inside and the window shut. The anchor was retrieved and the boat quietly moved away.

 _ **-(-)-**_

Not a lot of action in this chapter, but now you know Cindy a little better. Let me hear from you and I'll try to update again by Sunday

And now, since so many of you responded, I'm bringing back the mail bag!

MRAY 4TW – It would be interesting if we could visit our own minds the way Raven can visit Nevermore.

Herpderphollystar – Thanks! I had no idea I was your favorite writer!

RPGPersona – Now you know she's legit.

Thowell3 -I haven't heard from you in a while. I hope I can keep your interest.

The-Fallen-Spirit – Ask and you shall receive.

Guest – I hope I can keep you that way.

Hairul The Nightrage Beast – Yeah, I think that's why Cy insisted on the DNA test.

Johnny Beast – Yeah, she's 14, a few years younger than the Titans in this story.

Golem XIV – They're my "go to" law firm.

Guest – Thanks for your kind words.

TheBigK1 – Glad you like it so far

Sparity101 – Continuing it is.

ThommyPickles – I hope the explanation given satisfies you.

Invader Johnny – Definitely a big responsibility for BB. Lucky for him Raven will help him.

Anonymoose – Considere yourself signed up!

Bob – I have flair? I had no idea!

TheAlienHeart – No clone here. She's the real thing.

Nw150 – We can't have your head exploding!

Knightstef – I will do my best.

Titanfan45 - I'm goingto try to make this different from my previous stories.

Hulkshiny – Thanks!


	3. Chapter 3

Raven pulled a coin purse out of her jeweled belt and paid for the meal.

"Thanks for treating me. The sandwich was really good." Cindy remarked.

Raven sensed the blond's emotions. The young girl was sincere.

"Thanks, Rave! It's too bad you ladies didn't try the Buddha Burrito. It was awesome!"

"If you say so, Gar. Shall we head home?" Raven replied as she raised her arms, ready to summon one of her portals.

"Uh … is there another way to get home?" Cindy asked.

"Is there a problem?"

Gar chuckled. "She isn't used you your teleportation, it does feel kind of cold and … weird. It took me some time to get used to it."

Cindy quickly nodded her agreement.

Her arms still raised, Raven replied. "No problem."

Cindy gasped when suddenly her surroundings appeared to drop away. Looking down she saw that they were standing on a black disk. She looked beyond its edge and saw that they were already hundreds of feet in the air and wrapping her arms around her cousin and burying her face in his chest, she shrieked. Very loudly.

"You afraid of heights, Cyn?" He asked as he reassuringly wrapped his arms around her. Without looking up or releasing him, she nodded.

"Aren't you?" She asked.

"Gar and I can fly, but you can't, so I understand your concern. Does this help?"

Cindy quickly looked up and saw that the disk was now much bigger and had a protective railing around its perimeter. She reburied her face.

"Not really."

"It's OK, Cyn, we'll be home soon."

"How soon?"

He released her. "Like now."

She carefully raised her head and looked. After confirming that they were on the Tower's roof she slowly released the death grip she had on her cousin.

"On second thought, next time we can teleport." She said in a shaky voice.

"I understand how you feel. A few years ago I temporarily lost my powers and I fell into an elevator shaft. Robin caught me almost immediately, but I will admit that scared me, as I would have fallen to my death."

Beast Boy hooked his arm into Cindy's. "Let's go inside and play some Game Station." After which he escorted her to the roof top entrance. Raven walked behind them, careful to not laugh at the poor girl's still rubbery legs. They rode the elevator down to the common room. Their teammates were already there and when they entered Cyborg cleared his throat.

"Ya'll need to see this. It was on TV just a few minutes ago."

The giant screen came to life and Cindy saw Katie Hernandez, a local reporter with a segment on the Channel 7 news called "Titans Watch". She heard Beast Boy and Raven sigh unhappily.

"You guys don't like Titan's Watch?"

"That would be an understatement." The sorceress replied.

"You don't? I mean, it's really popular. All my friends watch it. Why don't you like it?"

Raven raised her gray hand and counted off on her fingers.

"One – They get in the way during missions. We've had to save their sorry butts because they put themselves in harm's way to get good footage. Two – They make up stuff about us that isn't true. Three – They violate our privacy … let me guess, Cyborg, they have pictures of us eating lunch?"

"Bingo." He replied.

"Four – They show unflattering images of us."

Beast Boy snickered. "A few weeks ago they caught Rave picking her nose. They even made a GIF of it and it went viral." His remark earned him a mild glare from his girlfriend.

"Oh, yeah; I remember that." Cindy replied. "I thought that was a fake."

"Go ahead and play it back." Raven adroitly changed the subject.

Cyborg hit the play button on the TV clicker and Katie Hernandez came to life.

" _We hit pay dirt today folks as we have some interesting Titans news today. Take a look at these stills that were sent to us today by a regular contributor who as always prefers to remain anonymous. As you can see, Raven and Beast Boy are having lunch on the outdoor patio at the Good Earth. Now I'm sure you're wondering who their blond friend might be. At first we thought that it might be the long absent Terra Markov, Slade's one time sidekick, but our forensic specialist, John Baron, says no. John?"_

The camera panned over to an overweight neck beard with oily hair.

"So Control Freak has a long lost brother, who knew?" Gar remarked. No one laughed.

" _That's right Katie. Though Terra would have matured since we last saw her, my algorithms say this isn't Terra Markov."_

Side by side photos of Terra and Cindy appeared on screen. Lines and dots appeared on their faces, after which "No Match" appeared on the screen.

"Algorithms?" Cyborg snorted. "A blind man could tell they're different people. And for the record, John Baron's algorithms are garbage."

" _So, do we know who the mystery girl is? We do know that the city's favorite changeling has a soft spot for blonds."_

"Hello! I'm his girlfriend!" Raven shouted at the screen, before suddenly looking sheepish and apologizing to her friend for her outburst. "I don't know why, but this show gets under my skin."

" _Not yet, I'm running a facial recognition search on a local database. While that search does its thing, I noticed that the mystery girl looks a lot like Beast Boy."_

" _Now that you mention it, John, I see what you're saying."_

" _Just for fun, I applied some transforms to her picture, and I came up with this:"_

A picture of Cindy, her hair and skin changed to green, and with pointy ears appeared on the screen.

"Whoa!" Cyborg shouted. "You two look even more alike than I thought."

" _Katie, I present you with ... Beast Girl!"_

" _Interesting, John, so is it safe to assume they're related?"_

He shrugged. _"Well, it could be a coincidence … wait … the database search found a match … her name is Cindy Logan."_

Cindy gasped. "They know its me."

" _Nice work, do we know anything else about her?"_

" _It says here that her parents died a few days ago in an auto accident. She fourteen and has no known living relatives."_

Katie Hernandez looked at the camera. _"Well, as we reported here first, an anonymous source disclosed to us that Beast Boy's real name is Garfield Mark Logan ..."_

Gar crossed his arms and frowned. "Thanks for nothing, Slade. At least he doesn't know who Robin is."

" _... of course Robin has responded to all our queries for confirmation with a 'no comment'. But I think we can put two plus two together. It's obvious that the Titans have taken her in as witnesses saw Raven fly her back to Titans Tower on one of her black flying disks, and as to why, it's simple: she's related to Beast Boy, or should I say Garfield Logan."_

Robin shut off the TV.

"I guess the cat's out of the bag." Raven droned.

"Cyborg, we're going to need new holorings for everyone, including Cindy." Robin announced.

"I'm on it."

Before he could leave the room, the crime alert klaxons sounded. Robin dashed to the mission console and began to type furiously.

"It's Cinderblock, he's on a rampage at the Jump City Galleria Mall."

"That is my favorite shopping mall! He will pay for this outrage!" Starfire shouted as she waved a clenched fist at the screen.

Cindy looked at Starfire. "You can afford to shop at the Galleria? I thought only rich people went there."

Gar leaned over to her and whispered. "Remember, I told you she's a princess? She's loaded."

Robin shouted his signature battle cry: "Titans, Go!"

Gar quickly typed on the console. A view of the mall's interior appeared on the screen.

"You can watch us kick Cinderblock's sorry butt. We'll bring pizza for dinner. Help yourself to anything in the kitchen until we get back." He grinned as he ran after his teammates.

 _ **-(-)-**_

Cindy sat down on the circular couch. She had seen highlights on the news of the Titans battles countless times; but she had never seen one in real time. Some of her friends were lucky enough to be at the scene of a battle, if you could call that lucky, as they had been, to some degree, in great danger being so close to the action.

She sighed. She hadn't seen any of her friends since she was placed in the foster home. And to add insult to injury, her mobile phone service was automatically canceled due to non payment. Of course, her father couldn't pay the bill … he was dead.

Cindy suddenly felt very alone. It was so kind of Garfield to take her in, it was far better than that horrible foster family she had been stuck with. And while it was a great relief to learn that she did have a living relative, not to mention a world famous relative, it dawned on her, as she watched Cinderblock trash the mall as the Titans were on their way, that she had absolutely nothing in common with her cousin. Heck, she couldn't relate to any of the Titans. Starfire was a weird alien, she was pretty, but she was weird with a capital W. Cyborg … he was a cyborg! Enough said! Robin seemed as compulsive as they came. Gar told her that he never took off the mask, not even when he slept. Raven was Garfield's girlfriend, but if you looked up the word "strange" in the dictionary there was a picture of Raven next to it.

And then there was Garfield. He was so nice and sweet. But he was green, he smelled like a wet dog and he could turn into one.

She fought back the tears again. If only she could go home. But that wasn't possible. And she couldn't even go see her friends. The whole town now knew that she was Beast Boy's cousin … if she saw her friends she might place them in danger.

She looked up at the screen and saw that the Titans had finally arrived at the mall. She had heard of Cinderblock and seen news footage about him in the past, usually clips of the Titans capturing him. But this time nothing was edited and she felt her heart in her throat. Cinderblock was a savage brute and was far from a pushover. She saw him swat Starfire out of the air and she hit a nearby wall with a sickening thud and fell to the ground. She held her breath until the princess slowly got up, wiped a trickle of orange blood from her mouth with the backside of her hand and rejoined the fight.

The battle seemed to go on forever, and Cinderblock seemed to be losing momentum. Beast Boy morphed into a Triceratops. Cindy smiled as she loved it when he took on dinosaur forms, she thought it was cool even before she learned he was her cousin. He charged into Cinderblock and knocked him into a wall, which crumbled. It turned out to a support wall and the roof overhead suddenly caved in, burying the changeling, who had reverted to his human form. Cyborg and Robin then used the old "sonic boom" on Cinderblock, knocking him out.

Raven was frantically using her powers to remove the ruble that buried the changeling. It looked massive and she could see the worry on Raven's face. Garfield wasn't indestructible and it dawned on Cindy that he might have been crushed to death. Barely breathing, she continued to watch until Raven found him. He was clearly in excruciating pain, pointing at his left leg. Cyborg arrived and after examining her cousin he applied an inflatable splint. He said something to Raven, who picked up the still agonizing changeling bridal style before stepping into a portal and vanishing into it.

She recalled the infirmary from a tour Gar gave her and she raced to it. When she arrived she saw Raven, who was still carrying him effortlessly, carefully lower him into a med station. She marveled at the sorceress's physical strength. She appeared to be far stronger than any of the guys on the football team, even though she wasn't bulging with muscles.

"Can I help?" She blurted out without thinking.

"The X-ray machine … the blue thing in the corner." Raven pointed without taking her eyes off her beau. "It's going to be OK, Gar."

Cindy quickly rolled the machine over. Raven expertly set it up and took a shot of his leg.

"You know how to use an X-ray machine?"

"We've all been trained." Raven replied as she examined the x-ray. "Your tibia broke in three places. I'll fix it."

"No." He said through clenched teeth, still in pain. "Let Cy patch me up."

"Yes, I will. If I don't it will take weeks for you to heal."

"But Rave ..."

"No buts … Cindy, get me a box label CX-24 from cabinet G."

The blond quickly found the box and handed it to Raven, who was busy giving him a morphine shot. She opened the box, which contained another inflatable splint, which Raven put on her own leg. She then gave herself a morphine shot. Cindy was completely perplexed.

"Raven … what are you doing?"

"I'm going to heal him. Cindy, after I'm done, I'll need your help getting into my med station."

"I … I don't understand, why? You aren't injured are you?"

"Please, just do as I say."

"Yeah, sure."

Raven placed her hands on Gar's injured leg and Cindy saw what looked like a sparkling blue light engulf his broken leg. She also noticed that Raven's brow was sweating profusely. After what felt like a brief eternity Raven stopped. She visibly shifted her weight to her right leg and grimaced.

"Cindy, I need your help now."

"Raven … is your leg broken?"

"It is now, and Gar, don't you dare get up! You aren't fully healed yet!"

Cindy looked astounded. "How did you do that?"

"I transferred his fracture to … oh Azar, it hurts."

Cindy carefully helped her into the other med station.

"Thank you. I can heal minor injuries directly, but not big one like this."

"But now your leg is broken."

"I'll go into a healing trance and after a few hours I'll be fine. Then I'll finish fixing him up"

"Raven, you're amazing."

"Thank you. Now if you'll excuse me."

Raven closed he eyes and began to levitate, bobbing up and down as she always did when in a healing trance. Cindy looked at her cousin, who looked like he was sound asleep.

"You're all amazing."

Minutes later the others arrived. Cyborg checked them both of them. Neither he, nor Starfire or Robin seemed fazed by what they saw. Cindy walked up to Robin.

"Does this happen a lot?"

"We aren't strangers to broken bones, if that's what you're asking. We're lucky to have Raven."

"You mean she does this all the time?"

Robin crossed his arms. "Not for me, if I'm stupid enough to break something, I deal with it myself. There's no way I'll let her put herself through this for me."

"But she does for Garfield."

"In his case she won't take no for an answer."

"She must really love him."

"She does … and tomorrow she's going to read him the riot act for being careless … Cindy … are you OK? You look pale."

"I was worried that he was … dead. How do you guys do this? It's so dangerous."

"It is dangerous, but we're Titans, it's our job." He took her hand. "It's dinner time, pizza night. Let's go. We only get the best pizza in town. An on the job perk."

"What about them?" She pointed at Raven and Beast Boy.

Robin smiled. "We'll save them some pizza."

 _ **-(-)-**_

A little note: In the old comics, this is how Raven heals people, she absorbs their injuries then heals herself.

And now the mailbag! Not as many reviews as last time, but still a good haul.

Golem XIV - Thanks. Still some more setup going on, but that's over now.

RPGPersona - Raven has her faults, but she never breaks a promise

Guest - Thank you!

MRAY 4TW - I totally missed that, and I proofed it three times!

TFG 16 - I'm also glad you gave it a shot, and thanks for your kind words

nw150 - It's pretty clear that BB feels protective of Cindy, who unlike Raven, can't defend herself

Jarobi - I'm thinking maybe 10 chapters. We'll see.

Dark Azarathian - I'm glad you like it.

Thowell3 -Thanks!

Johnny Beast - I'm never going to live that down, am I? :-)

titanfan45 - I really am trying to do something different.

ThommyPickles - Was it Slade, or was it paparazzi?

Invader Johnny - When it comes to meat poor Gar will never win.

Concolor44 - You were right about the media blowing their cover.


	4. Chapter 4

_A few hours later …_

Other than a few slices of pizza that Cyborg saved for Raven and Beast Boy, the pies were long gone. It was movie night and Starfire chose some animated flick, Hotel Transylvania 2. Cindy watched it listlessly as she had seen it before with her friends.

Cyborg was eating a sub sandwich that was big enough to choke a horse, and that was after eating three whole pizzas. Why did a man who was half machine need to eat so much? And how did he burn all those calories? She silently wondered.

Robin was far more sensible at the dinner table. He ate only four slices, which he washed down with plain old tap water. Starfire continued to live up to her weirdness, as not only did she slather her pizza, all twelve slices of it, in mustard, she drank mustard as well, a whole king sized container of French's mustard. Cindy wondered how that didn't kill the alien.

The sliding doors swished open. Without even turning to look, Cyborg shouted: "The oven's set to 375"

"Thank you, Cyborg." Raven replied as she and her beau headed into the kitchen, where they placed the saved pizza in the oven to reheat it. Cindy did turn and saw that her cousin and Raven were fully healed.

"You guys OK?" She asked. "You both looked pretty bad when I left the infirmary."

"Good as new. Rave's the best doctor in the house."

Cindy got up and joined them at the table.

"Don't you guys get scared?" She whispered.

"All the time." Raven replied.

The timer in the kitchen rang, and the two Titans got their rewarmed pizza and some soda pop, which they brought back to the table.

"You guys are acting like it's no big deal."

"We don't always get hurt, I mean beyond a few bruises or a sprain, which Rave can fix with her eyes closed."

"I broke my arm when I was seven, I fell off some monkey bars at the school playground. Too bad you weren't around then, Raven, I had to wear a cast for months … say, where were you then?"

"I was in world in another dimension called Azarath."

"So you're half human and half Azarathian?"

Raven shook her head. "Azarathians are human."

Cindy gave Raven a look that asked "So why are you gray?" Raven understood the unasked question. She bit her lower lip and then sighed.

"You're part of our extended family and if Gar and I become permanent you'll be my sister-in-law, well, kind of … anyway ...my other half is demonic."

Raven braced herself for Cindy to shriek something like"You're a demon!?", instead her response surprised the sorceress.

"Permanent? You mean like married?"

Cyborg, Robin and Starfire jerked their heads around towards the table.

Raven blushed. "It's just something we've talked about."

A grin grew on Cindy's face. "So that's why you took a broken leg for him!"

"I … I would do it for anyone on the team."

"Wow! You're gonna marry Garfield!"

"I … I said we were just talking about it … Cindy … you aren't disturbed that I'm half demon?" Raven stuttered as her blush increased.

"I guess it is kinda unusual … but I'm good with it. I saw how much you care for Garfield in the infirmary, and you've always been a super hero. You have to be good, right?"

"I have done some things in my past I'm not proud of."

"Who isn't!?" Cindy beamed. She then wrapped her arms around Raven and hugged her. The other Titans fought back the snickers as they saw their teammate clench her teeth as she endured Cindy's hug, which thankfully was short lived, in part because Gar came to her rescue.

"Hey! What about me? Don't I get a hug? I'm not chopped tofu!"

Cindy released Raven and hugged Beast Boy. Raven mouthed a silent "Thank you" to her beau.

 _ **-(-)-**_

That night it was Gar's turn to host Cindy, as he explained to her that on movie night Star and Robin would spend "quality time" together. She didn't ask what precisely that meant. Gar let her have the lower bunk.

"Cy says that your room will be ready tomorrow."

"It's OK, I kind of like bunking with you tonight … we haven't really had a chance to talk, just you and me … say, Raven won't get jealous or anything?"

"Raven is the jealous type, but don't worry, you're practically my sister, Raven's actually glad we're spending time together, plus she said it would give me a good reason to clean up my room."

"You call this clean?" She teased him.

"Very funny, Cyn … I'll have you know that I even ran the vacuum cleaner."

"Yeah, but you forgot to turn it on."

"Hey, you sound like Raven, that's cruel."

"You really like her, don't you?"

"I always have."

"What about that other girl?"

"Terra? … that was a long time ago … she dumped me. I try not to think about her." His ears drooped.

"Sorry, I didn't know … so are you guys serious?"

"I'm not sure … we already agreed to not, you know, do it until we're official … if we ever are."

"You're eighteen, right?"

"Yeah, and I know what you're thinking … way too young. But you know, we're heroes, meaning ..."

"I understand, for all you know, it could be tomorrow."

"Yeah, and believe me, I've come close to buying the farm, more than once."

Gar was already in his bunk, resting on his back and staring at the ceiling, Cindy's head popped up next to him.

"Gar?"

"Yeah?"

"Just go for it."

"You mean getting hitched?"

"Yeah."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah … Gar … if anyone understands that there are no guarantees in life, it's you and me. We're both orphans … shit happens."

He looked at her. "Don't tell anyone; but we talked about waiting until we're nineteen."

"Sure you want to wait a whole year?"

He nodded. "Yeah, we do. I think Rave isn't 100% sure yet and needs time. To be honest, when I think about it, it is kinda scary … until death do we part and all that.:

She leaned over and pecked him on the cheek. "I know I just met you and Raven, but I can tell that you'll be ready. Good night, Gar."

"Good night, Cyn"

 _ **-(-)-**_

 _A few hours later …_

Cindy was sleeping peacefully in her bunk when she was woken by what sounded like the end of the world. She sat up and bumped her head on the bottom of upper bunk. As she rubbed her head she saw Gar leap down from his bunk, clad in his boxers and T-shirt and put on his Doom Patrol costume. He rushed for the door and quickly looked at her.

"Sorry for the wake up call. We'll be back as soon as we can." He then vanished through the sliding door.

She walked over to the window and in less than a minute later she saw Raven, Starfire and Gar, in the form of an owl, fly away from the Tower. The T-Car was gliding over the water as it headed for the mainland. Her stomach knotted up as memories of their fight with Cinderblock came back to haunt her. She saw a clock that said it was 2:46 AM. She considered going back to bed, but knew that would be an exercise in futility. Pulling the blanket off the bed, she wrapped it around herself and headed off to the common room. Once she arrived she saw that Robin had left the mission details on the big screen. Johnny Rancid was up to his usual mayhem. She wondered if she could watch again and stepped up to the console, but found that it was locked with a password, so she couldn't set it up to watch. Walking to the large windows, hoping to be able to see something, but it was futile.

She debated if there might be something on the TV and proceeded to channel surf. As she hoped, Titans Watch was on and she was able to watch … sort of as the TV crew didn't have a good view and the police wouldn't let them get closer.

Fortunately the battle was uneventful and Rancid was soon captured. As she continued to watch she saw the Titans assemble while Robin talked with the police. Raven, Beast Boy and Starfire took to the sky, on their way home. Still wrapped in the blanket, she decided to head to the roof to greet them and hopped into the elevator. Seconds later she was on the roof, the strong nighttime breeze gave her a chill and she pulled her blanket around her even tighter.

She looked towards downtown, squinting as she tried to see them flying home, but it was too dark. She continued trying and almost didn't hear the metallic click behind her. She began to turn, but before she could see who it was, she felt a sharp jolt, as if electricity was passing through her body. She then felt her whole body tingle and began to black out, struggling to not collapse, until everything went dark.

 _ **-(-)-**_

The three flying Titans landed on the roof top.

"We sure kicked Rancid's sorry butt tonight." Gar gloated.

"Oh, yes, it was most gratifying, and best of all no one was injured."

"You can say that again, Star."

Raven stepped away from them and picked up a blanket. "Gar, did you leave one of your blankets up here?"

The changeling took a close look at it. The blanket had an elephant pattern on it. "That's from my lower bunk, what's it doing ..." He stopped mid sentence and shouted "Cyn! Cindy! Are you up here!?"

There was no response.

"Oh crap! Please tell me she's inside the Tower."

Raven placed her fingertips on her temples and concentrated.

"She's gone. She was here on the roof, I feel traces of her aura. She was here just a few minutes ago."

Beast Boy morphed into an owl and took off searching the Tower's perimeter, hoping that she had not fallen off, but found no trace of her. As soon as he returned to the roof, Robin and Cyborg were there. The Tin Man was using his sensors to examine the blanket, after which he grimaced.

"What is it, Cyborg?" Robin asked.

"Whoever was wearing the blanket was hit with a stun ray."

"Nooo." Garfield whimpered.

"Did anyone tell her to stay inside until we got back?" Robin asked.

Gar shook his head, fighting back the tears. "I told her we'd be back soon, but that's all I told her."

Robin crossed his arms and frowned.

"We'd better go inside. Whoever kidnapped her is going to call us."

 _ **-(-)-**_

"I failed her, Rave; I failed her."

It was now almost 4AM and still no ransom call. The Titans were all sitting on the couch. Cyborg was tapping his foot impatiently, Starfire looked crestfallen while Robin typed furiously on a keyboard, checking security camera footage from all over Jump, hoping that the kidnapper got sloppy and was caught on camera; but there was no such luck. And the Tower's rooftop camera system had been hacked and all that was recorded on tape was static. Robin had a hunch of who it was, not that it helped.

Raven ran her fingers through the changeling's green mop.

"It's not your fault. We warned her that she was in danger."

"She probably thought it was safe up there … why didn't I tell her?"

"None of us did. To us it was obvious, unfortunately for her it wasn't."

A bright red light flashed on the console. Finally, the expected call. Gar's eyes were glued to the giant screen while Robin pressed the answer button. And that was when the changeling's heart sank into his stomach.

It was Slade.

Robin crossed his arms and calmly looked at his nemesis.

"You're going to return her to us, now." The boy wonder spoke in a flat yet menacing voice.

"Why, Robin; that's exactly what I intend to do."

"And we aren't making any deals."

"I wouldn't think of it, I know you all too well. Even though the girl is precious to you, you do have your principles, which are unbreakable … except perhaps for you, Logan?"

Gar leaped to his feet. "If you've done anything to her, you're a dead man!"

"Relax Logan, she's unharmed, see for yourself."

Slade stepped aside. Cindy was tied to a chair and gagged. Raven could see the fear in her eyes.

"What's your game, Slade? You must want something." Raven grilled him.

"Raven, Raven; I'm not asking for or expecting anything and I am telling you the truth. I'm going to tell you where she is. Actually, I'm giving you five different locations. You will have to run a gauntlet at each one to reach her, and no cheating by teleporting, Raven. I have dampening fields at each location. So you'll have to do it the old fashioned way."

"Why five locations, Slade? What are you up to this time?" Raven replied.

"He's after the new Xenothium shipment at Wayne Tech." Robin snorted. "It's not going to work, Slade. Some of us will stay behind to guard the Xenothium."

"Actually, I'm already stealing it. But before you shout Titans Go!, I have something else I want to show you."

Slade produced a syringe with a green serum in it. Gar's face fell.

"No, that can't be."

"It is, Logan. This syringe is full of the sakutia virus." Slade then turned and quickly injected it into Cindy.

"You just signed her death sentence. You said you weren't going to harm her." Raven snarled as her four crimson eyes appeared and glowed menacingly

"Actually, you can save dear Cindy Logan."

"How? We do not have the counter serum!" Starfire shouted.

Cindy looked even more terrified than before.

"The antibodies are in Logan's blood, and I know he has type O blood."

"A transfusion!" Cyborg shouted.

"Not as effective as Dr. Logan's original serum, but it will work, if you find her right away."

Five addresses appeared on the screen. "Oh, and don't try to blast your way in. Each location is booby trapped. Any attempt to break in that way and the entire site will self destruct."

"You've gone too far this time, Slade. If she dies, you'll be sorry you were ever born," Raven growled at him.

"Then I suggest you hurry, Titans. Tic tock."

Slade's transmission ended. Robin slammed his fist on a table. "Cyborg, how much time do we have?"

"If we don't bring her back and start the transfusion in thirty minutes, she's a goner."

Robin sighed unhappily, then assigned each Titan an address "Let's get going, Titans."

 _ **-(-)-**_

A cliff hanger! Ain't I a stinker?

And now, mailbag time! Thanks for all your reviews!

shadowyshadow - Even rougher now.

titanfan45 - Interesting indeed, as in the Chinese curse "May you live in interesting times"

nw150 - Beast Girl? Who knows?

Gabylokita41 - Good to hear from you again. Don't be a stranger

RPGPersona - Cindy probably knows thatit's best to keep her thoughts to herself

Missy8114 - Thank you for your kind words

Guest - You are right that in the comics that regular Tamranians don't have fight or starbolts. But in the show Star tells Raven that all Tamaranians can fly. So we have some canon clash.

Concolor44 - Poor Cindy is already traumatized. Will it get worse?

ThommyPickles _ I've used the idea of superhero papparazzi before. Remember Superhero Magazine?

Golem XIV - I forgot to have Raven chew him out. I guess she was relieved thathe was only injured.

Johnny Beast - Interesting guesses.

Invader Johnny - She is definitely feeling more at ease with the Chromatically Challenged Couple.

Jarobi chapter - Funny how two of the hottest girls in the city are weird and strange.

MRAY 4TW - I hesitate to use AI's because I'm they'll interfere with my style, as flawed as it is.


	5. Chapter 5

Cindy groaned as she woke up. Her body felt as if it was on fire. Every inch of her skin ached, as if pricked by thousands of needles. And her throat was parched, dry as a desert,and her tongue felt as if it was made of leather. Her mind was a blur and would have fallen back asleep had she not felt a straw poking her lips.

"Drink this." A familiar gravelly voice commanded her.

She instintively wrapped her lips around the straw and sucked. The water was chilled and was delightful, she drained the cup in an instant, after which she opened her eyes. The room was fairly dark, the only illumination seemed to come from a dim light, it was clearly nighttime. She looked up and saw a pale face floating in the darkness. After blinking a few times she recognized that it was Raven.

"You're back home. You're safe."

"I feel awful. Everything hurts" She mumbled.

"You're still recovering." Raven replied as she offered her more water, which once again, Cindy quickly drank.

"What, happened? All I remember is that Slade gave me a shot."

"He infected you with a deadly virus called sakutia. You quickly passed out after that. Starfire found you and brought you back to the Tower."

"Sakutia? Isn't that like Ebola, but worse? I thought there is no cure."

"There is a cure. You've received it."

Cindy tried to sit up, but Raven gently stopped her. "You need to rest, you're still recovering."

Cindy nodded. "Since when is there a cure for sakutia?"

"Gar's parents discovered one before they died."

Cindy eyelids felt like lead and she closed them. "No, I remember in bio class, Miss Taulbee said there was no cure."

Raven sighed. "The cure was lost when they died."

"But … I thought you just said you gave it to me." She panted. "I still feel like crap, are you sure ..."

"You got the cure via a blood transfusion."

"Blood transfusion? I … don't understand. Who gave me a blood transfusion?" Her mind was still fuzzy.

"You got one from Gar. He was infected with sakutia when he was a little boy. His parents gave him the cure and saved him."

She opened her eyes. "Oh yeah, I remember that now … a blood transfusion?"

"Correct, it was the only way to save you."

Cindy groaned. "Is he OK? Where is he?"

Raven stepped aside and pointed . Beast Boy was in the next med station and was unconscious.

"He had to give you a lot of blood. We almost lost you, but he kept giving blood until he passed out. We gave him some regular type O blood to offset his donation, so he's also feeling the sakutia right now. But you're both out of danger."

Tears flowed down Cindy's cheeks. "Oh Garfield, I'm so sorry."

"He'll be very relieved when he wakes up to see that you're OK … Cindy … there's something you need to know."

"What do you mean?" She asked in a trembling voice.

"This is hard to explain … Gar's powers … he wasn't born with them. They're a result of the cure fighting with the sakutia. The cure is genetic, it has genes from the entire animal kingdom."

"I don't understand."

"Cindy, I'm going to turn on the light so you can see better. What you'll see might disturb you, but please understand that you're in perfect health … are you ready?"

Cindy nodded and Raven turned on the overhead lights. Cindy craned her neck to looked at Beast Boy.

"Gar looks OK. You said he's OK. He is, right?"

"He's fine." Raven took Cindy's hand and squeezed it. The young girl looked down … and saw that her arm was just as green as Gar. She opened her mouth but no words came out. She looked up at Raven, and the sorceress could see the fear in her eyes.

"Cindy, I'm sorry, but it's permanent."

"Nooo, please tell me it's not. Please tell me that I'm not green."

Raven ran her fingers through Cindy's still blond hair. She looked up at Raven, her jaw trembling and her hand shaking

"I wish I could tell you that it's only temporary, but that's not the case."

"You mean I'm going to be a freak for the rest of my life?"

"You. Are. Not. A. Freak." Raven replied in a clipped tone. "Just because you have an unusual coloration doesn't make you a freak. Your cousin is not a freak!"

Raven pulled up her sleeve, exposing her gray arm and she pointed at it. "I'm not a freak, and neither are you. What color we are doesn't matter."

Cindy closed her eyes. "I feel weird, really weird. Like I'm not me. I feel … things inside me … things that want to come out."

"Forgive for my outburst. I can't begin to imagine what you're going through, because I've always been the way I am. As for the way you're feeling, I believe it means that you now also have powers, but you probably don't know how to use them yet. Gar will teach you."

Cindy sat up and buried her face in her palms and sobbed quietly. Raven watched in silence, feeling the anguish emanating from the distraught teen.

"I wish … I wish I had been in the car with mom and dad … I wish I died with them."

Raven did something that was very rare for her. She sat down next to Cindy and wrapped her arms around her.

"I once wished I had never been born. I hated myself because of my heritage. Being half demon isn't easy, Cindy; I have to constantly meditate to keep my demonic side in check. It's a burden I live with every day of my life. It scares me."

Raven paused.

"I often wonder what will happen to me when I die. Will I go to Heaven or will I be damned to Hell because I'm half demon? But you know what Gar told me once? He told me that he was glad I was born … Cindy … life is precious. Yes, your life has changed, but who says it won't be good?"

"Looks like my two favorite ladies are bonding." As weak voice called out.

Raven turned and saw Beast Boy trying to sit up. She gestured with her hand and her obsidian light gently pushed him back down.

"What's with you Logans not resting when you should?" She said in her classic deadpan.

 _ **-(-)-**_

 _The next morning, a bit before noon …_

Cindy was still alone in the infirmary. Cyborg gave both she and Beast Boy clean bills of health. Gar took off to get some vegetarian breakfast while Cindy still slept. Cyborg also went to the kitchen and made her a breakfast of eggs and bacon When he returned with the food she was awake and she turned down the breakfast offer.

"Don't tell me you're going vegetarian like B?"

She shook her head. "I'm just not hungry."

He put the tray down on a table. "It wouldn't hurt you eat something."

"I know … I just don't feel like eating. I feel like I'm someone else, or maybe something else."

The Tin Man pulled up a chair and sat next to her.

"Believe me, I understand."

"You do?"

"Yeah, I do. You wanna know what happened to me? How I got this way?"

She looked at the 'tin man'. She had seen his picture countless times before, and was familiar with the fact the he was more bionic than flesh and blood. But suddenly he seem more real to her. A third of his face was metal and he only had one real eye. Did that hurt? His fingers made a whirring sound every time he moved them, as servos and relays came into action Suddenly, it occurred to her that maybe he lost more than she did, a lot more. She sat up in her bed.

"Sure".

Victor proceeded to tell her about the accident at Star Labs, when his father open a trans dimensional portal and how a monster came out of it, and how that monster killed his mother and maimed him.

"My dad made this tech to save my life." He said as he raised his hands and showed them to her. "When I woke up after he bolted this onto me … I screamed in terror. I felt like I was a monster, and I wished that he had failed to save me and just let me die. After that I became a recluse. I locked myself in the house for months. When I finally went out I covered myself with an over sized sweat suit."

Cindy looked very thoughtful before she spoke. "So what happened?"

"Star fell out of the sky and we kicked the Gordanian's butts."

"I remember that day … the more I hear about your stories, the more amazed I am. I wish I could be more like Raven. She seems so confident. She's so calm and so comfortable with who she is."

"She wasn't always like that. We almost didn't meet her and she almost didn't join the team."

"You're kidding me?"

"You know who her dad is?"

"I know he's a demon, but that's it."

"I'll let Raven tell you about him. But she was very ashamed of who she was. She told me once that she didn't fit in."

"And what did you say?"

"I told her she fit in just fine."

"And she was OK after that?"

He shook his head. "Nah, not right away. If you ask me, while we all helped, it was the green bean who brought her out of her shell."

"Green bean?" She frowned.

"Sorry, it's … uh … a term of endearment."

"So who am I then? Beast Girl?"

Cyborg shrugged. "That's up to you, I mean, I don't know if you have any powers."

"Raven says that I do."

"In that case, B will teach you how to use them. But as far as who you are, you're Cindy Logan, not Beast Girl."

She nodded, then smiled and looked up at him. "And who are you? What's your real name?"

Cyborg looked away for a moment and pursed his lips before looking back at her. He then extended his hand to her. She shook it and they both smiled.

"I'm Victor Stone."

Just then the infirmary's door swished open. Beast Boy walked in, carrying a cardboard box in his hands.

"I come bearing gifts." He smiled as he handed her the box. She opened it and frowned as she pulled out its contents.

"This what you wear." She pouted.

He rubbed the back of his head. "Uh, yeah … we'll get something made for you, something more … you know, girly … but until then you really oughtta wear this … it's brand new. I've never worn it."

She took a closer look at the shirt. "Why do I have to wear this?"

"Well, you see, if you morph while wearing regular clothes they'll rip and get ruined."

"Maybe I don't wanna be Beast Girl."

He raised his hands apologetically. "I know, but you need to learn to use your powers, so you can control them. If you don't, you'll morph unintentionally. Trust me, I know this from experience."

"So, you're saying I don't have a choice, I have to be Beast Girl."

"That's not what he's saying. You don't have to become a superhero." Raven's gravelly monotone interrupted as she entered the infirmary. "But you should start learning about your powers and how to control them. And I suggest you eat your breakfast and start right away with your training."

She then glanced at her beau. "Are we still on for tonight?"

He grinned back at her. "You bet, mama!"

"Good, I'll be in my room meditating if anyone needs me."

Raven left the room and Cyborg did the same.

"Don't have too much fun on your date tonight, Evergreen." He chortled as he left.

Cindy frowned. "Does he always make fun of you being green? In case he's forgotten, I'm green too."

Gar smiled. "It's just banter. I call him things like Tin Man and Bucket head. We don't mean it … say, if you don't like what Cy made for you, I can make you some breakfast, a nice healthy breakfast."

"You mean a tofu breakfast?"

"Exactly!" He beamed.

She quickly scarfed down the breakfast Vic made for her. She then picked up the Doom Patrol outfit her gave her.

"So this won't tear?"

"Yup, and don't ask me how it works, cuz I have no idea. It's Doom Patrol tech."

She sighed. "OK, I guess I'll put it on." She picked up the box and walked over behind a privacy barrier.

"Cyn?"

"Yeah?"

"When you change, you can't wear your underwear, it'll rip."

"Let me guess, you also have special underwear?"

"I do, but I don't have any new ones. I figured you wouldn't want to wear one of mine, sorry. I'll get you some … I'll ask Rita."

"Who's Rita?"

"She's Elastigirl, she's my adoptive mother. I'll tell you more about her later."

Cindy quietly sighed and mumbled to herself as she changed. "As if this day couldn't get any weirder." There was a mirror behind the barrier and she looked at her disrobed self. Everything, except her existing body hair, was green. She then noticed that she had not one, but two fangs sticking out from her lips and that her ears were even longer and pointier than Gar's.

"I guess I was wrong. It can get weirder."

 _ **-(-)-**_

 _Outside, near "Terra's Rock" …_

"Gar, is it safe to be out here?"

Cindy kept looking at Raven, who was sitting on a nearby boulder, or to be more precise she was levitating above it as she meditated. Her cape and her hair fluttered in the breeze and she looked very serene.

"Rave and I are both here. No one will bother us."

Just then a speedboat, with photographers came to a stop just yards off the beach. They aimed their cameras and began to click away.

"What about them?" She asked.

"They're too close, no one's allowed to be closer than 3000 feet, there's a law about that, if we weren't busy I'd bust them myself … Rave! A little help here, please."

The demoness, without opening her eyes, summoned a giant black hand, which shoved the speedboat far away. The photographers protested, but it did them no good. The hand did not vanish and rather than than try to get around it after a few minutes they left.

"Thanks, mama! You're the best!"

Cindy walked up to her cousin and lowered her voice.

"So you guys are going out on a date? Where are you taking her?"

"First, dinner; then we're going to see some glass stuff in the botanical gardens." He whispered in reply.

"Oh, you mean the Dale Chihuly exhibit?" She whispered back, so that Raven wouldn't overhear.

"That's it. Have you seen it? I mean, I have no idea what it is. Rave sorta dropped a big hint that she wanted to see it, so I bought tickets." He continued to whisper.

"I saw it last month … with my parents."

"Oh … sorry."

She took his hand and squeezed it. "Don't be. And I think Raven will like it, it sounds right down her alley.."

"Which means I won't like it." He snickered.

"You might be surprised, Gar. It's pretty cool in the dark … so, lesson time?"

"You bet! Let's get started."

Cindy began to stretch, as if she was preparing to run a race."

"Good idea, always helps to loosen the muscles." He grinned. "So, you did athletics at school?"

"Yup, I was on the track and field team."

"Awesome! At least one of us is athletic. Me? I'm a klutz!"

She laughed. "I find that hard to believe."

"Believe him, he's a klutz." Raven interjected in her monotone without moving a muscle and levitating in the lotus position.

Gar smiled at Raven's remark."OK, let;s get started. Rave said you could feel stuff inside you?"

"Yeah, it's hard to describe. I guess it's like I'm full of animal ghosts."

"Excellent, you're doing great. Now here is what I want you to do: first close your eyes."

She complied.

"Now look inside yourself and try to see the animals. Your guess was good, they will look like ghosts, and don't give up if you can't see them, just keep ..."

"I can see them." She softly gasped. "There's so many of them."

"Wow! You're a natural … OK, now go to them .. don't worry, they won't bite."

"OK, now what?"

"Find one you like."

"Any one?"

"Well, let's find one about your size, maybe a chimp?"

"Ugh, a monkey? No way; pass."

A small smile briefly appeared on Raven's lips. She was beginning to really like the girl.

"What do you like?"

"How about a panther?"

"Do you see one?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Cool, invite her over."

"What?"

"Call her, like you want to give her a hug."

"Oooohkaaaay … here pretty panther, come here."

"You don't have to say it out loud, just ..."

Before he could finish speaking, Cindy winked out of existence and in her place there was a very astonished looking green panther. Gar began to dance and pump his arms while he hooted. Raven opened both her eyes and nodded her approval.

"You did it! You're awesome!"

The panther, if it was possible, looked shocked. It was slack jawed and didn't move.

"Maybe you should bring her back now."

"Good idea, mama. Cyn, you can hear me, right?"

The panther then nodded and moved its mouth, after which is looked frustrated as only growling sounds came out of its mouth.

"You can't talk when in an animal form." He said as he pointed at his own throat. "No human vocal chords, plus all the geometries are wrong. Right now you're built to growl, not talk … anyway, you ready to be human again?"

The green cat nodded.

"Just tell the panther bye-bye."

The cat tilted its head and gave him a look that said "really?".

"Trust me. Close your eyes. It'll help."

She complied and within a second she was a green girl again. She checked that her Doom Patrol outfit was present, and it was. He raised his hand to high five her, but she was too stunned to notice. After a few seconds she looked at him.

"Is it supposed to hurt?"

"A little, you'll get used to it."

Raven lower her legs and approached Cindy.

"Well done, you're just as good at this as, if not better than, Gar."

"Well, she is a Logan, I would expect nothing less" He said with a hint of pride in his voice. "Next time we can try smaller animals. It's a little harder, but I know you can do it, after you get some rest."

Cindy's eyes twinkled. "I'm ready now."

 _ **-(-)-**_

So, will Cindy become Beast Girl? Stay tuned.

Also, Dale Chihuly is real. If you want to see what his art is like, google him and look at images. His art is kind of funky, some people like it, some don't. I actually did see one of his exhibits a few years ago. He's the guy with the eye patch. I think his stuff looks especially cool in the dark.

And now, mailbag time. Only 11 reviews? I'm hurt! ;-)

Jarobi - I like to think that Cyborg has improved the Tower's security, though any place outside would be less secure, or at least no Slade proof, especially at night.

MRAY 4TW - It was hard to choose tags, as you only get to pick two. Since hunor isn't one of the main themes, I didn;t select it.

titanfan45 - Cindy's powers could come in handy.

Concolor44 - Rage might, but the other Titans, in cluding the rest of Raven's psyche, would probably disagree.

Raymesiris - I agree with your assessment that Cindy's animals are females.

ThommyPickles - Well, I think it was obviious that she was goingto get powers. But what will she do with them? Being a hero is scary business.

Pixel-Pie02 - Thanks. You will laugh, but what inspired this story was the recent Teen Titans Go! episode "Beast Girl". Of course in that silly episode Beast Girl isn't realted to BB, even though she looke exactly like him and even wears a Doom Patrol uniform. I thought I'd try a more serious angle on the concept.

Johnny Beast - You have won a genuine Beast Boy Tofu and Carob cookie (no sugar added!)

Golem XIV - It was pretty obvious. Still I hope to have some surprises in store.

Invader Johnny - Who knows? Maybe Cindy will give him a knuckle sandwich. Oops! Did I say that?

Sparity101 - No argument with that. He does calculate things very coldly. Clearly he doesn't think that scaredy cat Cindy will ever be a threat, powers or not.


	6. Chapter 6

"I think we can call it a day … you did great!"

A green mare stood on the sand, on the island's only beach. She turned to face her cousin. Raven was standing next to him, with her usual blank face. The mare smiled before morphing back into her human form. A subtle grimace appeared on her face.

"I'm sore."

"Not surprising, given that you performed thirty two transformations." Raven informed her.

"That many?"

"Yes, that many. You've been at it for over two hours. I'm surprised Gar let you go that long. I'm sure Cyborg can give you something for the pain."

"Well, it is dinner time. It's taco night!" Gar announced with a happy tone in his voice. "I made some horchata to go with it. It's Rave's favorite."

"What chata?" Cindy asked,

"It's a drink make with rice, vanilla and cinnamon." Raven informed her. "It's very tasty. Gar uses a recipe Pantha gave him, very authentic."

"It's made of … rice?"

"Have you ever tried rice pudding?"

"I think I'll stick with soda pop."

 _ **-(-)-**_

As they entered the common room, Cyborg, who was wearing a chef's hat, greeted them.

"Well hello, ya'll. Dinner's almost ready."

"So, what kind of tacos did you make, chrome dome?"

The Tin Man counted them off on the fingers of the hand."

"I made ground beef, shredded beef, shredded chicken and carnitas!"

"Carnitas?" Raven replied. Cindy thought she saw a smile briefly appear on the sorceress's face.

"I know they're your favorite, little lady. I also made some nasty tofu sofritas for our resident vegetarian. I made refried and black beans, Mexican rice with tiny potato cubes, just the way you like it Star."

The princess beamed and clapped her approval.

"And there's corn and flour tortillas. I also made some tostada shells, none of that store bought junk. I made everything from scratch. It'll be ready in a few minutes."

He vanished back into the kitchen. Cindy sat down on the couch and turned on the TV.

"It's time for Titan's watch!"

"You sure you want to watch that, Cyn?"

"Oh, yeah; you guys don't like it."

"And I suspect that after watching today's episode, neither will she." Raven whispered to her beau, who nodded his agreement.

 _Good evening, and welcome to Titans Watch. I'm Katie Hernandez and we have another juicy story tonight. One of our frequent contributors sent this video clip to us today._

A video showing Raven, Beast Boy and a very green looking Cindy began to play.

 _As we can see here there are now two green inhabitants in Titans Tower. A close up shows that Cindy Logan is now as green as her cousin, Beast Boy. As to why, we don't know and there hasn't been a press release from Titans Tower. Unfortunately, Raven chased our observer away, fortunately our friend has a new telephoto lens and look at what he saw._

A slightly jittery image of Cindy morphing into a panther, followed by other clips of her performing other transformations. Raven face palmed while Beast Boy frowned.

 _So, do the Titans have six members again? Let me know what you think at #TitansWatch. Also, what do you think Cindy's hero name should be? Beast Girl, or maybe some more snazzy … heh heh. No offense meant, Beast Boy! See you tomorrow. Remember, we watch the Titans for you! Good night._

Cindy shut off the TV.

"I'm not a superhero. Why did she say that?"

Cyborg was done cooking and brought out platters of food as Raven replied.

"Remember what I told you? They say things that aren't true. Anyway, I suggest we sit down to eat before it gets cold."

Cindy watched as the Titans began to make tacos. Raven sniffed her carnitas taco, which was drenched in salsa and guacamole, before tasting it. "You outdid yourself, Victor; it's excellent."

Cindy, made one too, and after trying it she agreed with Raven. It was delicious.

"So, do I have to be a Titan now?"

"No, you do not." Starfire replied between bites. Cindy noticed that there was no mustard on the alien's taco. She could be taught.

"I got your mobile phone service reinstated." Robin replied.

"You did?" A smile exploded on her face.

"It should be working as of now. Also, I arranged a field trip for you tomorrow."

"A field trip?"

 _ **-(-)-**_

 _The next day …_

It was a bright and crisp morning. Motorists were stuck in their morning commutes, drinking coffee in their cars and trying, in vain, to find alternate routes with their phones to wherever they were going and most of them were in a foul mood and didn't see the black disk that zoomed by overhead.

The air was chilly. The Titans, who were clad in their standard outfits, seemed unfazed by the brisk cold. Cindy, who was dressed in her civvies and was wearing a coat, couldn't stop shivering.

"Aren't you cold?" She whispered to Beast Boy.

"This nothing, you should been there in Siberia when we met Red Star. Now THAT was cold."

"Siberia? You guys went to Siberia, in the winter?" She asked Raven.

"Yes, and Gar is right. It was very cold."

"I don't know how you guys do it … where are we going anyway? Can I open my eyes now?"

The disk gently landed.

"We've arrived, you can open your eyes." Robin announced.

Cindy, who was clutching Beast Boy's arm, slowly opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was a sign that said "Murakami School."

"You brought me here?"

"Yes, friend Cindy. Robin thought that it would be good for you to see your friends."

Cindy's hands went to her face, covering her green complexion.

"But … but ..."

"Yes, you're green now. But you're still Cindy Logan. And need I remind you that there's nothing wrong with being green? My boyfriend is green, and I think he's very handsome."

"I … I … can't go in there."

"You don't have to." Cyborg reassured her as the school's front doors opened and her former classmates came pouring out. They quickly surrounded her. Before she knew what was happening she was buried in hugs and was being led inside the school by her friends. She turned and looked back at the Titans. Gar gave her a thumbs up.

"Aren't you guys coming with me?"

The Titans were about to join her when their communicators sounded off. Robin opened his first.

"It's Slade again, he attacking city hall. Cindy, stay here until we get back. Titans Go!"

Raven reconjured her flying disk and the Titans were gone. Cindy suddenly realized that this was the first time she was out of the Tower without the Titans. She felt a chill go down her spine.

"I think we should go inside." Her former teacher softly told her. "Come on. We have a party waiting, with cake and the works."

Cindy nodded and went inside.

 _ **-(-)-**_

"So, can you shape shift like Beast Boy?" Amanda, a childhood friend asked her.

"He's been teaching me. I can do it, but it's tricky."

"Can you show us?" Another girl asked.

"Well … uh … I'm wearing the wrong clothes."

"Wrong clothes?"

"Yeah, if I change in these clothes, they might rip and get ruined."

"What if you morph into something small, like a mouse?" Gina, another friend, asked.

"Huh … I guess that would work. When I'm done, bring my clothes to the bathroom, so I can get dressed, I wouldn't dare trying to morph back into a human and hoping my clothes would be in the right place."

"Do it, do it!" Her classmates asked in chorus.

Cindy nodded and closed her eyes. She appeared to wink out of existence and her clothes collapsed onto the floor. Her friends gasped, then cheered when a green cat came out of the pile. She proceeded to demonstrate all the forms she had mastered and when the was done she was a panther. She nodded at her clothes, which Amanda collected for her. Just before heading for the restroom a student from another class burst into the room.

"The Titans are getting their butts kicked, it's on TV!"

The teacher turned on the TV. Katie Hernandez was reporting and sounded frightened.

 _Slade's caught the Titans off guard with his next generation of Sladebots. There are unconfirmed reports that Beast Boy has been seriously injured. If the Titans lose this fight …_

Her voice trailed off. Everyone knew that she was going to mention the time Slade conquered the city.

 _The mayor has requested help from the Justice League, but they're unavailable … folks, we're on our own … they're Sladebots everywhere here at the Civic Center … all I can say is … pray that the Titans win …_

Hernandez screamed just before the video feed was cut. The class was now as silent as a tomb, staring in utter disbelief at the now blue screen on the TV. Cindy could see that her friends and the faculty were terrified. Suddenly, the PA system squeaked as it came to life.

 _This is Principal Johnson. The mayor has issued a city wide evacuation order. We have no way of getting you home, as the streets are jammed. You're all on your own, and I suggest you not …_

The lights went out and the PA system fell silent.

"We need to get outta here!" Someone shouted.

Pandemonium ensued as everyone ran for the exits. Suddenly, Cindy was alone in the classroom. And to make matters worse, Amanda ran off with her clothes.

 _I have to find the Titans._

One of the windows was open and she had an idea.

 _I hope this works._

She closed her eyes and suddenly she was a falcon. She had yet to try an avian form before, but it worked. The question was: would she be able to fly? She looked at the window and began to run to it, flapping her wings. She lost her balance and face planted. Undaunted, she hopped away back to her starting point.

 _Come on, Cindy; you can do this._

She tried a second time and to her amazement she began to fly, but she gained altitude slowly and it looked like she wouldn't clear the window. She flapped harder and closed her eyes. When she reopened them she was outside and gaining altitude. At first she felt exhilarated but she then realized that from her now lofty vantage point she had no idea which way it was to the Civic Center. Her now sharp avian eyes saw a column of smoke in the distance.

 _It must be that way_

She flapped her wings even harder, and began to feel fatigue while the smoke still seemed so far away.

 _How does Gar do it? I guess that's why he rides with Raven._

As she continued to fly it dawned on her: she had no idea of what she would do when she got there.

 _ **-(-)-**_

Sorry for the short chapter. But if I don't post this now, I don't know when I will.

And no mail bag today. Sorry again.


	7. Chapter 7

Cindy flapped harder and harder, trying to gain speed. The smoke plume continued to rise ahead of her and she was picking up speed, not that she could really tell. While she was airborne it wasn't lost on her that she had no clue about the art of flying. She was hundreds of feet above the ground and was struggling to stay level as she had to contend with sudden wind gusts, down drafts and eddies in the air.

Her perseverance paid off, as she had finally reached the point of conflict. It felt as if an eternity had passed though in reality she made very good time. As she looked down she saw all five Titans fighting countless Sladebots, and contrary to the news reports no one appeared to be injured, but they looked tired.

She remembered when Slade's and Terra's army invaded the city, after the Titans had mysteriously vanished and left the city unprotected. Her parents quickly packed some suitcases, threw them into their SUV and got out of Jump as quickly as they could. They drove down to Los Angeles, which was on high alert and had its own superheroes on patrol, should Slade try to invade the City of Angels.

This looked worse than the previous time, which she watched safely on TV from the home of some friends who lived near Disneyland. They didn't return to Jump until three months later.

Cindy circled around above, unnoticed by both Slade and the Titans. But she could see that thousands of Sladebots were closing in on her friends. And that's when it happened. It was as if a spark flashed inside her, igniting a bomb inside her.

They weren't just her friends. Gar wasn't merely her cousin, nor Raven simply her future sister in law. She understood what they were at the most primordial level, though she didn't comprehend what was beginning to happen to her. All she could see was that her pack was in danger and felt a primordial, instinctive rage fire through her. Next thing she knew her wings were gone and she was falling from the sky.

 _ **-(-)-**_

Cyborg fired both of his sonic cannons, sweeping Sladebots away with their mighty torrents of sound. Starfire fired star bolts incessantly, like a machine gun. Robin took down robot after robot with his bo staff, while Raven and Beast Boy worked together, he in Triceratops form while she rode on his back, shielding his vulnerable flanks with her dark energy while he used his deadly horns to impale robots. The Titans were fighting like a well oiled machine. But it wasn't good enough.

"There's too many of them!" Cyborg shouted. "We gotta retreat and regroup!"

"We're surrounded. And I can't teleport us out. Slade's using some kind of dampening field. My portals keep collapsing!"

Slade's army was closing in on them, and the Boy Wonder knew they couldn't win. "Star, Raven! Fly away! Save yourselves!" Robin shouted.

"If you think that we will do the abandoning of you here, you do not know what friend Raven and I are made of!" The princess thundered.

Robin was about to order the girls to save themselves when a loud crash thundered nearby. All eyes were turned to the source of the sound. Dust was in the air and they couldn't see well. Suddenly a familiar roar was heard and a green leviathan jumped before them.

"About time you became the Beast, green bean. Now we can open a can of whoop ass on these robots."

The changeling suddenly appeared next to Raven. "Uh, dudes, that isn't me."

The Beast like creature leaped over them and began to shred Sladebots like they were made of tissue paper.

"Whoever it is, it appears to be on our side." Robin shouted. "Titans, Go!"

Gar and Raven exchanged a quick glance.

"That's gotta be Cindy."

Raven nodded. "Let's help her."

With their new ally the tide of the battle quickly changed. Cindy's Beast tore through them with a rhythm that was both savage and precise. A few minutes later the surviving robots turned tail and ran away, scattering off in all directions. Slade was nowhere to be found, as always.

Gar ran to the Beast, with Raven close behind her. The leviathan looked exhausted and began to morph back into Cindy. Gar caught her as she fell forward and he blushed, as his cousin was naked as the day she was born. In a swift move Raven removed her cape and wrapped it around the unconscious green girl.

"What is she doing here!? I told her to stay at the school and wait for us!" Robin shouted.

"Dude, she saved our sorry butts! She's one of us." Gar protested.

"She isn't a Titan! She hasn't been trained."

"Since when does the Beast need training?" Raven asked.

Robin appeared to relax, before he saw the police approach. He tensed up again,

"Raven, can you get her back to the Tower?"

The sorceress nodded. "I can. The dampening field is gone."

"Get her to the infirmary."

Raven raised her arms. Beast Boy was carrying Cindy bridal style and a black hemisphere enveloped them, and they were gone.

 _ **-(-)-**_

Cindy was sleeping in Beast Boy's med station. Raven had changed her into a hospital gown and was wearing her cape again.

Cyborg hovered over the unconscious girl, reading outputs from screens and jotting down notes as he waited for the results of a blood analysis.

"Looks like she got more than she bargained for from me." Gar whispered.

Robin was lurking in the shadows in the infirmary. He cleared his throat and stepped into the light.

"The question is, can she control it?"

"Dude, I still can't control him."

Cindy groaned.

"She's waking up." Raven deadpanned. "She's going to be disoriented. Gar, you need to be at her side."

The green Titan nodded his agreement and took his place next to her bed. He took her hand and held it as she woke up. Cindy blinked several times as she continued to groan.

"Where am I?"

"We're in the Tower. Everyone's safe." Gar replied in a soothing tone. "What's the last thing you remember?"

She delicately sat up in her bed and looked at her friends.

"I was a bird, a falcon; I think. I was flying overhead and saw that you guys were in trouble … so many of those Sladebots."

"You can say that again." He smiled as he squeezed her hand. "So what happened next?"

"I'm not sure … I just felt I had to protect you, all of you."

"And then?"

"Nothing … just claws and teeth … Gar, what happened to me?"

He caressed her cheek. "You became the Beast."

"The Beast? I've never heard of that before."

"As you have just learned, there's plenty the TV tabloids don't know about us, though I'm afraid you made the news again. Everyone thinks you're a Titan now." Raven told her.

"I don't understand. What is the Beast?"

"We aren't sure. We think it's a composite of all the animal forms. It rarely appears." Raven added. "Not even Gar is sure of what he is."

"In the past, it would only appear when Raven was in the danger, and then only in the most extreme cases." Cyborg added.

"So, I have no control over it? I can just turn into this Mr. Hyde like monster at any time with no warning?"

Raven crossed her arms. "Let's get one thing straight, the Beast isn't a monster. Is it primal? Yes, it is; but that doesn't make it a monster. The Beast isn't evil, and believe me, Cindy; I know what evil is."

Cindy looked at her cousin. "Gar, how do I control the Beast?"

He shrugged. "I've only transformed into him three times, and it's been years since the last time … I guess I don't have an answer for you, except to say that Raven's right, it isn't a monster. But I feel him inside me, all the time. But … he seems … OK with being there."

"I once told Gar that knowing when to let him out is what makes him a man. The same applies to you, knowing when to let her out, that makes you a woman."

Cindy had the classical "deer in the headlights" look.

"What I'm saying Cindy is that you will eventually impose your mastery over the Beast … you'll just have to be patient."

"What about Slade? What happened?"

"You single handedly thrashed his robots and sent him packing." Robin answered. "Cindy, I think it's time you considered going through formal training."

"So I am a Teen Titan?"

"Not yet … maybe you never will be. But once you learn to control your powers, then you can choose your path. I'll have to warn you, the training is hard and there's no guarantee you'll join the team. And you can't count on the Beast bailing you out. We really could have used him today, but Beast Boy was unable to summon him. He's tried several times this year alone, and couldn't summon him." Robin continued to explain.

"I don't understand. What does that mean?"

"It means that you will have to be patient. Cyborg, is she ready to be discharged from the infirmary?" Raven asked.

The tin man looked at readouts. "Yeah, she's fine. She can leave at anytime."

"Good. Cindy, I would like you to stay with me tonight. I will teach you the basics of meditation."

 _ **-(-)-**_

The door to Raven's room swished open. The sorceress glided in, before stopping and looking over her shoulder.

"Please, come in,"

Cindy tiptoed into Raven's dark abode. She had never seen a room quite like this one. It was dark. It was full of strange and creepy artifacts. Starfire's room was so cheery and pink that it gave her a headache; but Raven's room … it felt like she was entering a movie set for a horror movie. Did Gar really spend time in here making out with Raven? He must really love her, though the reason why suddenly escaped her.

"Cindy, are you alright?"

The green girl snapped out of her funk.

"Sorry … yeah … I'm OK. It's just been a weird day, or should I say another weird day."

Raven nodded her head. "Actually, considering all you've been through, you're doing quite well. Still, it is obvious that you could still use some help."

Cindy saw a very macabre looking mirror on Raven's desk. She leaned over to get a better look at it.

"You don't want to touch that."

Cindy recoiled, with a scared look on her face. Raven grabbed her mirror and quickly stowed it away in a drawer.

"Forgive me, I should have put that away earlier. Contrary to what Gar might have told you, my room isn't full of deadly booby traps. You are quite safe in here."

"You asked me to spend the night with you."

"I did. In addition to teaching you some meditation techniques which you will find very helpful for controlling your powers, including the Beast, I thought ..."

The gray girl fell silent.

"Yes?"

"I thought it would be good to get to know each other better."

Cindy smiled. "Yeah, I'd like that too."

Raven had a small couch in her room. She sat down on it and gestured for Cindy to join her.

"As I've already told you, Gar and I are considering formalizing our relationship sometime next year."

"Yeah, I remember that."

"Right, anyway, once we do, well, you and I, we'll be family. While I might not exteriorize it, this is a big deal for me, as I have no living relatives, a least none that are human. I've always considered the Titans to be my surrogate family, but now, I'm actually going to have one, are you're going to be part of it."

Cindy beamed. "If anyone had told me two months ago that I'd be sitting in your room, talking about all this ..."

Raven raised her hand, silencing the still blond girl (whose roots were already turning green).

"Before you get too excited, I need to ask you something."

"Yeah, sure, ask me anything."

"You're Gar's only living relative … are you OK with him marrying someone like me?"

"I … uh … don't understand. Why would I not be OK?"

"I am half demon."

"So? You're a great person, Raven. Why should it matter that your father was a demon?"

Raven bowed her head. "I struggle with the darkness that dwells within me."

Cindy placed her hand on Raven's shoulder.

"We all struggle with the darkness inside of us."

"It's different. Human evil doesn't even come close."

"Hello? Jack the Ripper, Attila the Hun, Hitler, Pol Pot … need I go on?"

"I see you stayed awake during your history classes; but you don't understand. Cindy … have you heard of Trigon the Terrible?"

"Who hasn't? You saved the world from him."

"I also brought him into the world. Cindy … he's my father."

Cindy became slack jawed. "No. Freaking. Way."

"It's true … so, are you still willing to welcome me into your family?"

Cindy wrapped her arms around the gray girl.

"Of course I am. I couldn't think of anyone better for Gar."

Raven hugged her back, and a tear dripped down her cheek.

"Thank you." She whispered.

The continued to hug, until Cindy broke the silence.

"So how about those meditation lessons?"

 _ **-(-)-**_

 _Over in Robin's room …_

The circus brat was busy smooching his princess girlfriend, but she could sense that something was off.

"Richard, what is bothering you?"

Robin felt a pang of guilt go though him. She would only call him by that name when she was concerned for him.

"I'm worried about Cindy. I don't think she's cut out to be a Titan, but she also can't leave. I'm not even sure she even wants to be a Titan."

"Why can she not stay with us?"

"Star, she needs to live a normal life."

She caressed his face. "I do not believe that is the possible anymore for her."

"That's what I'm saying, Star. She's caught between a rock and a hard place."

Starfire gave him a quizzical look. "You are saying that she is the trapped?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. If she leaves, you know that Slade will have his eye on her. She can't leave, but what will she do if she stays? Be our housekeeper?"

"She did kick the butt today, and as you said earlier, she will have to commence the training so she can learn to control her powers. Maybe she will become a Titan?"

"She doesn't follow orders."

"Because she is not yet a Titan and has not been trained."

"And probably will never be one. Star, I'm worried she's going to get cabin fever and do something dumb and get herself into big trouble."

"I have the idea. We have not had an all Titans party for the longest of times. Let us host one so she can meet more friends."

Robin grinned. "Star, that's a great idea!"

She grabbed him, picked him up bridal style, tossed him onto the bed and jumped on him.

"I am not just the pretty face." She purred at him. "And now would be the good time to show me that you know that." She added as she peeled his mask off.

"Yes, ma'am!" He agreed.

And he did a great job of showing her exactly how he felt.


	8. Chapter 8

A ray of stray sunshine escaped though the curtains and fell on Cindy's somnolent face. Raven had offered her the use of her bed, but the ominous looking headboard put her off and she declined the offer, choosing instead to sleep on the less comfortable, folding roll away bed that Cyborg wheeled in earlier.

She shielded her eyes from the bright rays with her hand. It was then that she saw Raven. The demoness was sitting in a variant of the lotus position, levitating above her bed. Her legs were tilted at an angle, crossed at her ankles with her knees pointed slightly upwards.

Cindy sat up and took a better look at the strange woman who the night before had asked if she could join her family. She almost looked like a pale alabaster statue as she floated in the air. Cindy studied the motionless figure and saw that Raven was far better toned than she had noticed before. Her legs, while shapely, were also muscular, and her hands, which formed Azarathian mudras, looked strong, almost manly. Cindy had been somewhat pleased with her own state of fitness in high school, but looking at Raven she began to understand that perhaps the training program Robin developed for his team might be more challenging than she anticipated and that a long an difficult slog awaited her.

She recalled Raven asking her if she could join the Logan family. The green girl suppressed a chuckle. As if she had any say in the matter. But it was true, she was ready to welcome Raven into her family, and it wasn't an act of charity.

Cindy was painfully aware that there wasn't much left of her family. Just Garfield. There were no aunts or uncles and no grandparents. She knew there were no other cousins. Having Raven join their very small clan would be very comforting for her, regardless of how strange she was. This time she couldn't suppress her chuckle. It wasn't as if she herself was still a normal girl. Since when was green "normal"?

Raven's eyes opened and she looked down towards the girl with the still blond head of hair.

"Good morning. Did you sleep well?"

Cindy sat up. "I did. How about you?"

"I slept well."

"You don't have any bed head. How do you do that? Do you float all night and meditate like that? My mop looks like a rat's nest every morning, just look at it."

"My hair is very silken. I inherited it from my mother."

"Do you have a picture of her? I'd like to see her, if you don't mind."

Raven lowered her feet and glided over to a chest at the far end of her room. She opened it and Cindy gasped, as she heard what sounded like a man's voice.

"How much longer are you keeping me in here?" The voice asked in an irritated tone.

Raven did not answer and retrieved a small book. As she closed the chest, the voice became angry.

"You can't keep me in here forever! I taught you everything you know!"

Raven sat down next to Cindy, who stared at the chest.

"You have a man trapped in there?"

"Not a man, a dragon. And he's trapped in a book, which I keep in the chest."

"A dragon? You're kidding me, you have a … never mind … is what he said true?"

"If it was, I would be the one trapped, and not him."

Raven's strangeness never ceased to amaze her. Raven opened the book and handed it to Cindy. It was a photo album of sorts, the pictures looked photographic in quality, but clearly were not photos. The first picture showed a tall slender woman with violet hair holding a gray skinned toddler.

"That's you and your mom?"

"Yes." Raven nodded, betraying no emotion.

Cindy flipped through the pages. There were just a few pictures of Arella in the album. In the last one she was with Raven, who looked like she was about 8 years old.

"Was that the last time you saw her?"

"It was. Not that I saw her much at all. I was raised by the monks and rarely saw my mother. I actually did see her one more time, but it was a vision. She's gone now. My father …"

Raven stopped talking and finally a single tear betrayed the emotions she was feeling. Cindy put 2+2 together: Trigon killed Arella. She realized that there were worse lots in life than her own. She flipped the page, and there was a picture of Raven and Garfield kissing.

"I haven't seen you guys kiss."

"We're … I'm private. But I suppose that if we're getting married that I will have to be more relaxed about that."

Cindy closed the book and handed it back to Raven.

"I've never kissed a boy."

"I've only kissed one."

"Is he good?" Cindy grinned.

"Since I have no point of reference, I guess I can't say." Raven droned in her monotone.

"Do you like kissing him?"

Raven looked away. Cindy thought she saw a blush form on her face."Yes, I do. Very much."

Cindy's eyes twinkled with mischief. "After you tie the knot you'll be doing more than just kissing."

"I know … and … I'm a little scared about that."

"Why? Are you afraid it'll hurt?"

"No, I'm certain it will be very pleasant … I'm more afraid of not being any good at it."

"I doubt that." Cindy reassured her. "Raven … changing the subject, and don't take this the wrong way. How do you guys handle being so different? I mean … I'm also different now … and I just ..." Her voice trailed off.

"I've already told you, there's nothing wrong with being green."

"I know. But I'm not just green. I can turn into animals. Sometimes I just feel really weird, like I'm not me anymore. And I also smell funny now."

"Why do you think I wear perfume? Are you worried guys aren't gonna like you?"

"Well … yeah. I mean, I'm not like other girls, not anymore."

Raven pursed her lips and looked at the floor. "I felt that way for a long time. That dragon in the chest. His name is Malchior. He preyed on my fears and insecurities. I was the creepy girl with scary powers and a bad temper that boys didn't like. He impersonated a man, pretended to be infatuated with me and conned me into freeing him from the book. It was a terrible mistake and almost cost us our lives." She then looked up at the girl. "Trust me, don't worry about not being normal. I've come to believe that it's overrated."

 _ **-(-)-**_

 _Later that afternoon …_

"Cindy, these are Kid Flash and Jinx, or as the Central City press likes to call them: "Flinx". Robin introduced the couple.

Cindy shook their hands. Jinx was even stranger than Raven, and not even half as pretty. And she was engaged to Kid Flash, which further puzzled her, as he clearly could do better. The speedster excused himself and zoomed off to the buffet table. She overheard Cyborg sternly warn him to leave some food for everyone else. Robin then excused himself as well and the two girls were alone. Jinx grinned at the newcomer. Her eyes, with their cat like irises, shimmered with mischief.

"Soooo, a new lady Titan, huh? Welcome to our very small club."

"Actually, I'm not really a Titan. And just how small it this club?"

"Very small, the boys totally outnumber us, which is a good problem to have. Let's just say that the guys are thirsty, because it's almost impossible to date a normie. And don't kid yourself. If I could become a Titan, so can you, Beast Girl"

Before Cindy could protest the unwanted name, which made her sound like Gar's sidekick, she heard her cousin's voice. Raven and Beast Boy were escorting Titans East over her way.

"Check it out, Cyn. These guys are Titans East!"

Karen extended her hand. "I'm Bumblebee and this is my team. We've been following you on Titans Watch. Gotta say, it's the first time that show had something worth watching. It's great to meet you Cindy. We need more lady Titans."

"You can say that again. Hi! I'm Speedy. Say, you don't have a boyfriend do you?"

Aqualad pushed his way in. "Don't pay any attention to him, Cindy. I'm Aqualad, and if you don't have a date tonight, I would be more than happy to be yours."

"Eres muy viejo para ella!" Mas interjected as he tried to get closer to Cindy, with Menos right behind him, with a bouquet in hand.

"Don't be ridiculous, I'm the perfect age for her. And young girls prefer more mature guys," Aqualad retorted.

Raven and Beast Boy had stepped back and watched the scene unfold. Soon Jericho, Red Star, Hot Spot and other male heroes were crowding around Cindy. Gar noticed that Raven had a scowl on her face.

"What's the matter, mama?"

"You know I don't like that pet name."

"OK, you don't. But that's not what's bugging you. What's going on?"

"Nothing."

"Rave, I've known you way too long to fall for that."

A small moan escaped her lips. "I never receive that kind of attention from any of the boys."

"Well, of course not. You're taken."

"I wasn't always taken."

"So, are you saying that you really want Speedy to ask you out on a date?"

She frowned. "No, of course not. He's a jerk. Every time we talk, he reminds of the time he knocked me down, when Brother Blood was mind controlling him. Talk about insecure."

"I see … so you really wanted Aqualad to ask you out on a date, huh?"

"You don't have to remind me that he's way out of my league. That will never happen."

"Oh, so you're settling for me then, huh? I'm your better than nothing?"

"You know that isn't true." She snapped at him.

He wrapped an arm around her and drew her close.

"I know you're not settling for me. But you're jealous of Cyn, right?"

She closed her eyes and nodded. "I guess I am."

"Don't be. The only reason the guys kept their distance from you is because you're ..."

"I'm creepy."

"You're intimidating. You're not the most approachable girl in the world."

"What is that supposed to mean?" She said with a hint of danger in her voice.

He smiled. "It means you aren't flirty."

Raven rolled her eyes. "Oh, please."

"I'm serious. Don't look at them. Watch Cindy."

Raven did and her frown intensified as he was right. Cindy was working the crowd with the greatest of ease. They were all eating out of the palm of her hand. She could have anyone she wanted, even Aqualad.

"So you're telling me that the reason no one paid attention to me is because I'm an introvert who doesn't know how to flirt back?"

"Well, yeah, kinda. It isn't about knowing how. It's just the way she is. She isn't even aware that she's doing it."

"And I'm not aware that I don't."

"Well … yeah."

"And for some reason, you're with me."

"I know who you really are."

"Oh, you do, huh? So now Garfield Logan is the ladies' man who can read scary, introverted Raven like a book and has her wrapped around his little finger?"

He nodded. "I think you nailed it."

"I'm boring and predictable too. And you find that attractive?"

"You're never boring."

"But I'm predictable."

"Well, sometimes."

Raven shoved him against a wall, pinning him with her dark power. She placed her hand behind his head and pulled him into a deep kiss. At first he was surprised, but quickly recovered and reciprocated. They continued smooching as a crowd gathered around them, engaging in a voyeuristic orgy. Cindy grinned happily and whispered: It's about time. Finally, after what felt to the changeling like a blissful eternity, they stopped.

"Still think I'm predictable?" She asked in a breathless voice.

"I love it when you prove me wrong." He gasped.

"Good, because that happens a lot."

"Oooh, I like it it when you're feisty. So hot."

"You want hot? I'll show you hot."

A portal opened and they vanished into the floor. The assembled crowd stared at the now vacant spot.

"What the heck was that?" Speedy asked. "Pigs have got to be flying somewhere. I've never seen them kiss, especially not like that!"

The young men then turned their attention back to Cindy Logan. Before the night was over, she had over a dozen dates lined up. And Beast Boy and Raven never came back to the party.

 _ **-(-)-**_

Things will turn a little more serious next chapter.


	9. Chapter 9

_A few months later …_

"OK, Titans, let's call it a day. Pizza's on me."

Cindy shut off her treadmill, bent over, panting with her hands on her knees. Her lungs felt as if they were on fire and she couldn't feel her legs. She had been improving in her overall fitness and asked Gar to set her treadmill to his settings. That was, as the old expression would say, a mistake

As she continued to pant a blue bottle of Gatorade was handed to her by a gray hand. She looked up and saw that it was Raven. The sorceress was drenched in sweat but wasn't panting like she was. She gratefully accepted the bottle, which Raven had already opened for her and took a deep swig/

"You don't get tired, do you?" She asked, now panting less than before.

"Don't let my appearance deceive you,I am exhausted." Raven replied.

"You don't look exhausted."

Raven ignored the remark and walked over to her beau. After handing him a bottle of sports drink, they left the gym together, hand in hand. Cyborg and Starfire also left, to head back to their respective rooms to freshen up. Cindy saw Robin approach her. She stood up straight and did her best to not look like a truck had just run over her. Robin looked at the dashboard on her treadmill and nodded approvingly.

"Not bad, you're improving quickly. Those are Beast Boy's settings."

"And they almost killed me. How long did it take Gar to get as fit as I am now?"

"He already was when we started the team. Actually, he was fitter."

Her face fell. "You're joking?" She asked in a dismayed voice.

"He was in the Doom Patrol before we formed the team. Mento wouldn't tolerate any lack of physical conditioning, so when Beast Boy became a Titan he was already in top shape. If you think I'm a slave driver, wait until you meet him."

"Damn … say, I'll bet Raven was a hard body, too, when you guys started the Titans."

Robin shook his head. "Actually, she wasn't. Her hybrid physiology does help her, but she wasn't fit when we started the team. I made sure that changed." The pride was evident in his voice.

"She looks so strong, she looks like Wonder Woman."

Robin chuckled. "She's not even close; but Star is. Anyway, I want to talk with you about something." He said as he handed her a towel to clean her face.

"Sure, what is it?"

"We're going to Gotham tomorrow ..."

There had been other out of town missions before. Cindy was left behind, locked in the Tower, until they came home. She knew the drill: work out, watch TV, eat and stay in the Tower.

"... anyway, I think you're ready to come with us."

She did a double take.

"You said I can come on a real out of town mission?"

Robin smiled. "You've been working hard, here in the gym and in combat training. You're ready and you've earned it."

"Wow! .. Thanks … uh, are you sure I'm ready?"

"You can still improve, but yeah, you're ready."

"Cool! So … uh, what is the mission?"

"We're going to work with Batman. Slade's in Gotham, so we're working with his team to stop Slade once and for all."

Cindy felt a chill go down her spine.

"Did you say Slade?"

"Yes, I did. But believe me, it could be worse. We're not going up against The Joker, at least I hope not. Cindy, if you're worried you don't have to come. You can stay home again."

Cindy had a flashback. She remembered how terrified she felt when Slade kidnapped her, when he injected her with Sakuti and left her for dead. He was a monster, and she hadn't forgotten that. She narrowed her eyes. He was going to pay for what he did to her.

"I'm good. I wanna go."

"Right. And there's one more thing. You're going to have to take an oath."

"An oath? What kind of oath? You mean like a Titans Oath?"

"Nothing like that. Batman will want you to take an oath to join the Batclan. We all have."

"You mean I'll be one of the Bats?"

"Not quite. But you will be a member of the extended family, which means you'll learn his secret identity … and mine."

Cindy pondered his words for a moment.

"I'm in. I'll do it."

 _ **-(-)-**_

 _One week later …_

The six Titans stood on top on the tallest building in Gotham: the Wayne Enterprises Tower, all 115 stories of it. A strong and cold wind blew, making Raven's and Robin's capes billow. Cindy had never been to Gotham before. She didn't like what she saw. It was nothing like Jump City. It was dark, dirty and foreboding, not to mention older than Methuselah. Dark clouds were overhead, threatening a downpour.

"What are we doing here?" She asked.

The Titans had stealthily flown into Gotham in the T-Ship, which Cyborg recently upgraded to include a cloaking device. The T-ship was parked on top on the nearby Gotham National Bank building, no one the wiser that the Teen Titans were in town. At least that's what Robin was hoping.

"You don't expect to get to go straight to the Batcave, do you? Batman's going to meet us here."

"And then what?"

"He's gonna interview you and if he's convinced you can be trusted you will take the oath."

"And if he doesn't trust me?"

Robin crossed his arms. "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

As if on cue a nearby shadow suddenly came to life and the Dark Knight literally appeared out of nowhere. Cindy saw him and felt her mouth suddenly go dry. But that wasn't the only surprise.

Batman had a companion, who he addressed. "Robin, stay with the Titans while I talk with the old Robin and Beast Boy. Batman subtly gestured and Dick and Gar immediately complied and followed Batman in to the shadows, vanishing with him.

The new Robin was clearly younger, maybe about Cindy's age. His costume, while different from their Robin's traffic light suit, was similar enough to be recognizable, though his cape had a hood, which he lowered . He approached the remaining Titans and appeared to size them up. Judging by the look on his face, he wasn't impressed with what he saw. Cindy quickly glanced at Raven, who responded with a nearly imperceptible shrug. She also had no idea of who the kid was, or that there even was a new Robin to begin with.

"You're all confused, obviously. Of course, that's hardly surprising, since you're Dick's team, and yeah, his name's Richard. I'm sure he's never told you."

Raven's empathy was in full gear, assessing the kid who was larping as the Boy Wonder. He was right about Dick's identity, Raven has been in his mind once and knew he was Dick Grayson, Bruce Wayne's ward. He oozed both confidence and arrogance, to the point where Raven was beginning to feel annoyed. He walked up to the Tin Man, who towered over him.

"Cyborg, huh? You applied for Justice League membership … and they rejected you, that must have hurt. But you never told them, right?" The kid gestured at the other Titans.

The Tin Man's jaw almost hit the ground. That was supposed to be utterly confidential, none of them were supposed to know about that. Before he could reply, the punk moved onto Starfire.

"You're the Supergirl wannabe." He dead panned.

"I am a princess of the House of Tamaran. And I have powers that Supergirl lacks!"

"You mean your star bolts? They're OK, it's too bad your aim is so bad that you couldn't hit the side of a barn with them."

Starfire was fuming. Again, before she could reply he moved on, this time to Raven.

"You're the team monster. The scary demon Dick keeps locked in the basement."

Raven didn't reply, and just stared stoically at the boy.

"What's the matter, witch? Car got your tongue?"

"Ra's al Ghul is your grandfather. If anyone is a monster … it's you."

He grinned. "Very good. You're aren't as clueless as the others. We might make a superhero out of you yet."

Cindy stared at the pompous twerp.

"Who are you? And why are you dressed like Robin? And how dare you call Raven a monster?"

The kid looked at the green girl. "I'm Robin … the real Robin. But you, you're the new one. Beast Girl, is it?"

Cindy clenched her fists. "I'm not Beast Girl."

The kid grinned. "I think I actually like you. You stand for your friends. You have potential."

With no warning Batman returned with the older Robin and Beast Boy in tow. He walked straight up to Cindy.

"Robin and Beast Boy have convinced me that you can be trusted. That said, you can still walk away."

"Walk away?"

"If you become an extended member of my team, your life will never be the same. This is not a decision to take lightly."

The Batman towered over the green girl. It was yet another unexpected milestone in the whirlwind that was her new life. A few months ago her biggest worry was getting an A in the AP Calculus class at her high school. Now she had to decide if she was willing and ready to jump in feet first into the unknown. Robin's warning about the Joker rang in her ears and it gave her pause. She then clenched her teeth.

"My life already isn't the same."

"Good. Raise your right hand and repeat after me ..."

 _ **-(-)-**_

 _Later, in the Batcave …_

Raven and Beast Boy held hands as they stood in the Dark Knight's secret lair.

"This has to be the coolest place in the world."

"Cooler than my room?"

"OK, it's the second coolest place in the world."

Raven nodded towards Cindy, who was with their Robin, who was giving her the grand tour.

"You sure she isn't in over her head with all this?" She asked.

"Rob seems to think she's ready. So does Bats."

"But do you think she's ready?"

He looked at his cousin. "I'm not sure. She has her moments when she seems ready. But sometimes I think she should still be in high school."

"She can't go back. We both know that." Raven whispered.

He sighed. "No, she can't … and speaking of being ready, are you?"

Raven cocked her head. "I thought we were going to wait."

"I don't wanna wait anymore."

"Gar, if you want to sleep with me, we can ..."

"No." He cut her off. "I want us to be legit."

Raven nodded and opened one of the compartments on her jeweled belt, from with she retrieved a small velvet pouch. She opened it and a cracked stone fragment fell into her hand.

"What's that?"

"A fragment from the temple on Azarath. As long as I have it with me, I am in mystical communion with Azarath."

"You mean, like you're still there?"

She extended her palm to him.

"Precisely … now place your hand over mine and touch the relic."

He complied.

"We are now both spiritually on Azarath. Garfield, will you be my husband?"

"What?" His eyes widened. "You mean right now?"

"Yes, now. Are you in?"

He nodded as he smiled.

"Yes. Totally in, I do … now what do I do?"

"You ask me, doofus."

"Duh, of course. Raven, will you be my wife?"

"Yes, I will."

She leaned in and kissed him.

"Don't you need a witness?" A third voice asked from behind them.

They both jerked at the sound of Damian's voice.

"Not under the laws of Azarath." Raven calmly replied.

"Let me guess, since yo were holding that pebble, you were married on Azarath and under its laws. You do know that what you did isn't legally binding anywhere in the United States, right?"

"We don't need a piece of paper from the government to be married." She corrected him.

"The two of you have always been weird … but I agree with you on this. So, is this supposed to be a secret marriage?"

"A secret marriage?" Another voice asked.

Raven didn't have to turn to know who it was. Her voice gave her away, but so did the nuclear blast of emotion surging out of her. Raven braced herself for the bone crushing hug that was imminent. Starfire did not disappoint her. Had Raven been a mere mortal the princess would have cracked a few of her ribs. By this point everyone, including Batman, Alfred and Batgirl, who had just arrived, crowded around them. Cindy ran up to her cousin and also hugged him.

"You guys are officially engaged!"

"Actually, we were already engaged. Now we're officially married, Azarath style." Raven interjected as she extricated herself from Starfire's death grip.

Cindy threw herself on Raven and hugged the gray girl. She sensed the overflowing and sincere joy the girl was feeling and hugged her back. Upon releasing Cindy Raven noticed that Alfred Pennyworth had his arms crossed and looked less than happy.

"Is something wrong?" She asked.

"You could have provided me with at least a little warning."

"We don't expect you to do anything special for us. Azarathians don't have wedding ceremonies or receptions. It's considered a private event between the bride and groom."

Alfred shook his head. "Out of the question. We are in Gotham, and not in Azarath, wherever that might be. I will prepare a celebratory banquet, though I will have to order a pre made cake from a bakery I only use for emergencies. It will of course be an ordinary cake e and not a proper wedding cake ... this is so uncivilized." He said as he walked away at a brisk pace. "If you will excuse me, I have a dinner to prepare. Perhaps Master Damian can take care of lunch."

Alfred was gone in a flash. Damian sat down at a keyboard.

"I'll order pizza online. Anything you guys like? I'll order a veggie for Beast Boy."

"Meat lover's for me!" Cindy shouted.

"A meat lover's pizza? I'm liking you more and more, Logan."

He leaned over and whispered to her. "After lunch, we can go out on patrol."

"We? You mean just you and me?" She asked.

"Yup. Dick patrols his way, and I do it my way, which is more effective, and I'll show you how it's done. So, you up for it? We can take my bike."

Cindy glanced at Damian's motorcycle, which was parked nearby. It looked faster than the one Dick kept at the Tower. She imagined herself sitting behind Damian, with her arms wrapped around him as the flew down a street. A small smile appeared on her face.

"You have a deal. Damian Wayne."

 _ **-(-)-**_

Hey gang, there was some interesting news recently at WonderCon. Michael Jelenic, who produces Teen Titans Go! Said that he can almost guarantee that the original will be back with new episodes. This of course is not an official announcement. Perhaps by San Diego Comic Con we will know more details.


	10. Chapter 10

When the pizza arrived, delivered to Wayne Manor, they smelled heavenly. Beast Boy didn't know from which pizzeria Damian ordered the food, but they were better than the ones served at the ubiquitous wedge shaped pizzeria back home in Jump, and that was saying a lot. Damian ordered more than enough for everyone, and the young heroes indulged.

The superheroes congregated around a long table in the Batcave while they ate. Batman excused himself, saying that he to attend a Wayne Enterprises board meeting and did not partake. Robin, Starfire and Batgirl formed a group of their own, and the princess listened, enraptured, as Babs and Dick recounted missions they shared when Robin was still living in Gotham. Raven, Cyborg and Beast Boy formed another clique and ate quietly.

Cindy and Damian, sat at the far end of the table, talking in hushed tones. After the last slice of pizza was consumed Damian and Cindy got up.

"We're going out on a short patrol. We'll be back before dinner." Damian said to no one in particular.

"Patrol?" Beast Boy asked.

"Don't worry, Gar. Damian's just going to show me around town." Cindy beamed.

Before Beast Boy could further object, they got onto Damian's motorcycle, put on helmets and they peeled away and were gone. Gar wasn't sure, but he thought his sensitive ears heard Cindy giggling through her helmet just before Damian started his motorcycle. With a frown on his face, he turned to Dick.

"Is he really Bruce's son? And since when are there two Robins? What the heck is going on?"

"Yes, he is. And I'm going to become Nightwing, just as Star saw when went to the future."

"Dude, are you gonna grow a mullet, like Star said you did? And what about Damian, he just took off with Cindy. Are we all OK with that?"

The princess giggled in delight.

"No mullet. As for Damian, I don't know much about him. But since he's the new Robin, Cindy should be fine with him. Bruce says he's very professional."

"And what's this business of him being Bruce's son? Bruce isn't married, so who's his mother? Vicky Vale? Catwoman? Or is he some kind of zombie clone?." Gar said as he waved his arms.

Raven rolled her eyes at the remark. "His mother is Talia al Ghul."

The changeling's eyes almost popped out of his head. "So Cindy just went out on a date with Ra's grandson?"

"It's not a big deal." Robin tried to soothe him. "And they didn't go out on a date."

"Not a big deal? His mom and grandfather are psychos! What's with Bruce and crazy women? How the heck did he end up having a kid with her? They aren't like secretly married are they?"

Raven took his hand. "No, Gar, they aren't married. And I agree with Dick, there's no need to worry."

"You're kidding?"

"No, I'm not,. Gar, you married me, I'm Trigon's daughter. That's worse than being Talia's daughter. Far worse."

He crossed his arms. "I still don't like him. She's way too good for him. They make a really bad couple."

"Perhaps, but that is their decision to make." She then rose from her chair. "I'm going to meditate."

Raven walked away from the table but stopped and looked back.

"Gar, are you coming? You can nap while I meditate."

"Didn't Alfred give us separate rooms?"

"We're married now, remember? Married couples typically share a room."

"Oh, yeah. Duh!"

They left the Batcave, hand in hand, whisked away in an elevator. As soon as they were gone, Cyborg and Starfire grinned at each other.

"Knock it off, the two of you." Robin ordered them, albeit very half heartedly.

"Meditate and nap? Who do they think they're kidding?" Cyborg snickered.

Starfire clasped her hands while looking absolutely blissful,"They will consummate their love for the first time, it is the most romantic."

"Titans, can we change the subject?"

Babs piped in. "I agree. So when are you and Starfire gonna get serious? You guys have been dating for years now. When are you gonna pop her the question?"

Robin tugged at his collar. A thick bead of sweat dripped down his temple.

"On second thought, we can talk more about Raven and Beast Boy."

 _ **-(-)-**_

The Logans walked quietly to the room Alfred had originally set up for the sorceress. Beast Boy had his hand sshoved into his pockets and a sour look on his face.

"If he lays even just a finger on her ..."

"She'll be fine."

"He thinks he's God's gift to the world." He growled. "I'm the real Robin … who does he think he is?"

"He thinks he's Robin … and he his, from now on." Raven calmly replied as she opened the bedroom door. She entered and Gar followed her in.

"The guy's a first class jerk."

"I agree. Gar, just let it go."

"Let it go? He's out on a date with my only cousin." He paced around the room, looking very unhappy.

"Gar, relax I'm not thrilled with this either, but since Cindy is a Titan now, we have to trust her."

"Now I'm all worked up, There's no way I can take a nap right now."

Raven removed her cape and hood, draping it over a chair. "Good. I didn't ask you to come to take a nap."

"You didn't?"

She kicked her boots off. "Gar, we exchanged vows just over an hour ago. We have some unfinished business, in case you forgot."

Suddenly the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. "Rave … uh … I've never done this before."

"I know, neither have I. We're going to learn together. OK?"

He tugged at his collar. "What if I … you know … go in the wrong way?"

"Don't worry, we'll figure out how to do it, together."

She was facing him and she reached behind her back. He heard a zipper unzipping. Her leotard suddenly fell to the floor. To his immense surprise he learned at that very moment that she didn't wear any undergarments. Her stared dumbfounded at her disrobed figure.

"Gar, are you OK?"

After a long pause he opened his mouth. The only word to come out was "Wow".

Raven looked slightly annoyed."Gar, you have me at a disadvantage here."

Cindy and Damian were now forgotten. The changeling remained in his paralyzed stupor. Raven rolled her eyes and proceeded to pull his shirt off.

"For Azar's sake, Gar; do I have to do everything?"

 _ **-(-)-**_

Cindy hung on for dear life, her arms tightly wrapped around the new Robin, and unknown to her he had a big grin on his face. Damian steered his R-Cycle though the midday downtown traffic, narrowly avoiding catastrophic collisions as he veered between other vehicles at a highly illegal speed. To her credit not a peep came out of her mouth. Before she knew it they were near the docks on the Narrows. What she saw around her nearly took her breath away. She had seen images of the Narrows in the news and on youtube but seeing it in real life was something else. The words of Obi Wan Kenobi rang in her mind: You would never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.

Damian slowed down and quietly pulled into a dark and dank alley, sending some foraging rats scurrying away. As soon as they dismounted Damian pressed a button on his belt and a cloaking device activated, shrouding the R-Cycle and making it completely invisible.

"Robin's R-Cycle can't do that." She whispered.

"I can do lots of things he can't." He boasted before firing a grappling gun, which was much quieter than the ones Grayson used. Without saying a word he shot up towards the top of one of the buildings next to the alley, all 15 stories of it. Cindy watched him zoom up before morphing into an owl and following him. When she caught up with him, he was looking through a pair of binoculars. Without looking at her, he spoke.

"An owl. Good choice. They're quiet and stealthy."

He handed her the binoculars and pointed at a dilapidated warehouse across the street.

"If I was Deathstroke, I'd set up shop there."

"Deathstroke?"

"You Titans call him Slade."

"Doesn't everybody call him Slade?"

"Most people don't know that Slade used to be Deathstroke."

"Never heard of him. Who is, I mean who was he?"

"He was an assassin for hire. And he was good. But he found that competing with the League of Assassin's wasn't fun, so he decided to go super villain. I have to say, I'm surprised he never killed any of the Titans. He sure had plenty of opportunities. He could have wiped them out with those nanobots."

"He tried to kill me." She lowered the binoculars. "I don't see anything. So why here?"

"He didn't try to kill you. As for why here, this warehouse is still functional, though it doesn't get used a lot. Most super villains go for the classic abandoned warehouse, so no one would think of looking here, Slade's smart, he's hiding in broad daylight. Slade probably owns it through some ghost corporation, at least that's what my research says."

"What do mean he didn't try to kill me? He injected me with sakutia."

"It was a calculated risk. Of course now you have powers, something he probably also anticipated. He probably figured that it was worth facing a potential sixth Titan to get the Xenothium. The joke was on him, there wasn't any to steal. We made sure of that."

He paused.

"So, you don't like being called Beast Girl?"

"No, I don't."

"Maybe you shouldn't dress like him, though the skirt is a nice touch. Can't say the same about the Doom Patrol colors."

"Rita had these made for me. It's not like I can buy a costume that vanishes when I morph at JCPenney."

He suddenly pointed at the warehouse below. Cindy raised the binoculars and looked. A side door opened and something that made her skin crawl came out: a Sladebot. Damian took a few pictures before it retreated back into the warehouse. He put the camera away.

"We're done here. Time to leave."

 _ **-(-)-**_

 _Back in the bedroom some time later …_

A trail of discarded garments led to the bed, where the Chromatically Challenged Couple were asleep, with the changeling spooning his gray wife. Raven opened her eyes and a small but happy sigh escaped her lips.

 _It wasn't all that difficult, was it, my green bean? So we had no clue what we were doing, we sure figured it out, didn't we?_

The truth was that once the moment of truth arrived, when they were under the covers together, they were both overcome with an extreme case of shyness. Fortunately their hormones kicked in and the rest was, as the saying goes, history. Raven gently rolled over so she could see his face him. He was still asleep. She gently caressed his face with the tip of her index finger. Suddenly his eyes opened. After they fluttered a few times he smiled.

"Please tell me that wasn't a dream." He whispered.

"We're both naked, in bed together. It wasn't a dream."

He kissed her nose. "So, we're official now."

"We are." She deadpanned.

He ran his fingers through her silky hair. "So what do we do now?"

"I was thinking of suggesting another romp, that is, if you're up to it."

"Rave, I love the way you think."

"Except that we've been here almost three hours. Damian and Cindy are probably back. We should get back to the cave."

"I like your first idea more."

"So do I. But duty calls, Gar. But we do have tonight."

"And I'm looking forward to it, babe."

"Me too." She rewarded him with one of her tiny smiles.

 _ **-(-)-**_

The combined team, minus Raven and Beast Boy, huddled around the table, looking at the pictures, when the sound of the elevator echoed in the Batcave. Cyborg grinned and Starfire clapped happily. Grayson, who had already changed into his new Nightwing costume, which did not resemble the one Starfire saw on her brief trip into the future, stood up.

"Not a word about what they were doing!" Grayson hissed. "We will respect their privacy, understood?" He then dashed to the elevator. When the doors parted it revealed a very calm and relaxed looking green and gray couple. Their look of mutual serenity vanished when they saw him.

"Dude, what are you wearing!? I need some eye bleach!"

"What you mean 'what am I wearing'? This is my Nightwing costume."

"Dude, it's … it's ..."

"It's hideous." Raven completed the sentence for him.

"It's worse … a lot worse than your old Robin outfit."

"Hey, this is my Nightwing outfit, so get used used to it."

"You mean your Disco-wing outfit. Dude, it looks like something Mad Mod would wear, except that he threw it out because even he would be too embarrassed to wear it.."

Grayson was about to protest the remark when Raven did something she rarely did. She laughed.

"Dick, I think you need to go back to the drawing board. Why not something like what Starfire described?"

"Except without a mullet." Gar added.

"I've never had a mullet!" Grayson fumed. "OK fine, I'll change it. Are you happy now? And for the record, I like this costume. I designed it myself."

Raven burst out laughing a second time. Nightwing frowned before nodding at Cyborg. The tin man grinned in response.

"So, you lovebirds have a good nap and meditation?" He asked in a sing song voice.

"We are both relaxed and refreshed." She replied in her classic deadpan.

"I only ask because you both look kinda flushed. And my sensors are showing that your body temperatures are slightly above normal. Are you sure you were meditating?"

Raven's expression remained blank. "Is there anything else you'd like to know? Our favorite positions, perhaps?"

Damian snickered as the human half of Cyborg's face reddened. "Uh, not really. Too much information."

"Good, because I had no intention of telling you. Now, if we're done being stupid, is there any new information on Slade?"

"We found his lair, and we have pictures." Cindy shouted.

Raven and Beast Boy joined them at the table and looked at the photos.

"Sure looks like a Sladebot." Gar remarked as he and Raven examined the pictures.

"It looks like a new model." Raven added. "Do we know anything about them?"

"They have lasers built into their hands now. Beyond that we don't know much. And we don't know how many are in there."

"We need another reconnaissance mission." A dark brooding voice interrupted.

The Dark Knight arrived unnoticed.

"Raven, Beast Boy, I would like the two of you to infiltrate the warehouse and gather more data. I don't want to go in there blind just to find out that Deathstroke has a thousand Sladebots in there."

"Can I go with them?" Cindy blurted. "I can shape shift too."

"That you can, Miss Logan. But this mission requires a great deal of experience, not to mention a light touch. I want to know how many droids Slade has in there, what their capabilities are and any other pertinent information, such as if Slade has any Xenothium and how much. The two of you can go after we have our celebration dinner, under the cover of darkness. Any questions?"

Raven and Gar shook their heads.

"Good." Batman turned his head towards Nightwing.

"I thought your new costume was going to be black."

 _ **-(-)-**_

For those wondering about "Discowing", that was a name fans gave Grayson's first Nightwing costume in the comics. Dick became Nightwing just before Terra betrayed the Titans to Deathstroke. Google discowing and you can see examples of it. Many think it's one of the most horrid costumes in DC history.


	11. Chapter 11

The sound of a familiar hum softly spread into the darkness as Raven's black hemisphere rose from the roof of an abandoned warehouse. It sublimated away, leaving two Titans behind. They quickly crouched and hid. Gar frowned as he looked over the street at Slade's lair.

"A dog food distributor? Do you know what they put in that stuff?" He groaned.

"Meat, I believe." She deadpanned as she looked through her binoculars.

"Yeah, meat."

"Dogs are carnivores. Or do you expect them to eat tofu?"

"They could get the protein for it from soy beans. Of course, they would all be GMO beans. It's criminal, Rave."

"Immoral? Perhaps, bu it isn't illegal. We don't make the laws, Gar, we enforce them."

He crossed his arms and frowned. "Figures Slade would have a dog food business as a cover for his real operations … so how are we gonna get in there? I'm sure that Slade has sensors that would detect one of your teleportations. … though I could sneak in as a bug."

"Too risky … you aren't going in there alone." She deadpanned.

"Then how do we get in? Do we ring the doorbell and ask them if they want to buy Teen Titans cookies?"

"Teen Titans Cookies?"

"You know, like the Girl Scouts."

"The Girl Scouts sell cookies?"

"You need to get out more … hey, look over there! Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

A large truck with the logo of the "Healthy Puppy Dog Food" company on its side was coming down the street.

Without responding Raven raised her arms and the teleported aboard the truck. It was empty and they found a loose tarp and hid under it. The truck backed into the warehouse and came to a halt. A door in the truck's cab opened and slammed shut, followed by the sound of footsteps.

"Hey! Where's my load? I have a schedule to keep." An angry voice shouted.

"They had some trouble on the line, it won't be ready to ship for another hour."

"Well, that's just freaking great. What am I supposed to do in the meantime? I don't get paid for waiting."

"Chill out,man. You can wait for the roach coach with us. It'll be here any minute."

"Is it any good?"

"It's OK, I've seen worse. Try the carnitas burrito."

The driver continued to grumble about the tardiness of his cargo, but acquiesced and headed outside with the loading dock workers to wait for the late night lunch truck. Raven held her fingertips to her temples and closed her eyes.

"The loading dock is empty." She softly announced.

They threw off the tarp and cautiously exited the truck's cargo hold. They spotted a nearby closet and quickly hurried into it, leaving the door partially open.

"I'm gonna take a quick look." The changeling whispered.

"A very quick one … be careful."

He nodded before morphing into a small fly, and quickly flew away. She watched him until he vanished around a corner. He was gone for what felt like an eternity and the sorceress was beginning to feel anxious when he returned and resumed his default human form.

"I said 'quick', I was about to go look for you." She said as she glared at him.

"Sorry, I just wanted to check everything out."

Her expression relaxed. "So?"

"It's a pretty ordinary place. I found the canning line, something's broken as it was stopped, like the loading dock guy said. But I also found a large service elevator tucked away in a corner. There isn't a second floor here or any stairs, so I'm guessing the elevator goes down."

"Into Slade's lair." She added.

"Exactly."

"Where is it?"

"It's at the far end of the building, and there're workers everywhere. There's no way we could get to it without being seen. But I didn't see any cameras … I have an idea."

Before Raven could ask he became a fly and zoomed away.

"Would it kill him to tell me what he's going to do?" She growled to herself between clenched teeth. Within seconds she knew.

"There's a skunk in here!"

"Where, I don't see one … good Gotham I can smell it … my eyes are watering."

"Someone find it and catch it!"

"Find it yourself, I'm outta here. Someone call animal control!"

Even in the closet Raven could smell the stench. "Great, I'm gonna have to shower ten times to get this off me."

Soon the building was empty and Raven dashed out of the closet. Gar was back in his human form, waiting for her.

"Is this the best thing you could think of?" She snarled. "Have you forgotten the time when a real skunk sprayed me?"

He suppressed a chuckle, remembering well how angry she was with him when he burst out laughing after she was sprayed by a skunk when they were hiding in the bushes during another stakeout.

"Sorry, mama; but it worked."

They boarded the elevator, which had several buttons.

"Eenie, meenie miney moe." He chanted before pressing the button for the bottom level.

Raven sniffed her cape and grimaced. "Nice going, this cape is brand new. I'll never get the stench out of it."

The doors opened and they were greeted by the sound of gears and machinery. Again, Raven used her senses to scan the level.

"There's no one here." She whispered.

They egressed and explored the level as stealthily as they could, careful to not touch anything or make a sound. They both snapped pictures of what was clearly a Sladebot assembly line, which appeared to be completely automated. At the end of the line fully functional droids would stand up and walk to the exit, which had a staircase that led up to the next level.

The Sladebots appeared to ignore their presence, so they followed a freshly built one up the stairs. The next level was where the parts were kept. More pictures were taken.

"Have you seen any Xenothium?" She asked.

He shook his head. "Nope."

"Neither have I, let's go to the next floor."

On the next floor they saw thousands of assembled Sladebots. The were hunched down, with their arms wrapped around their legs, loosely forming a cube. As they arrived the Sladebots hunched down and another droid, this one designed for warehouse work, would pick them up and store them on shelves that went all the way up to the high ceiling. Again, the robots seemed to take no notice of them. As they walked around, they make another discovery. There were several deactivated droids that looked like Slade. This of course was nothing new to them. Slade had been using decoys for years. What did surprise them were the other replica droids they saw: The Mayor, Bruce Wayne, Batman, Catwoman, The Joker, Penguin, Two Face, and others.

"What is Slade up to?" The changeling asked as they snapped more pictures.

"Nothing good." She replied. There was still no sign of the Xenothium. They were beginning to wonder if Slade had any at all. Nearby, another set of stairs beckoned them.

The next level was mostly empty, with just a few crates. Raven used her powers to open them, but they only contained more robot parts.

"Well, I guess that's it. Time to get out of here." She whispered to him. There were no more stairs, so they headed for the elevator. As they approached it a thick steel panel slid and blocked the lift's doors.

"We've been spotted!" She shouted as she adopted a fighting stance, with black balls of her Eldritch energy forming around her fists. A platoon of Sladebots came marching up the stairs, with their built in lasers ready to fire.

Raven and Beast Boy, who morphed into a tiger, didn't wait and began to engage the droids. The initial part of the battle, while fierce, was successful for the Chromatically Challenged Couple. Raven smashed droid after with her powers, while her spouse morphed into different creatures, each of which wreaked havoc on the seemingly never ending supply of Sladebots that kept marching up the stairs.

Raven tried to teleport them out, but as they expected there was a powerful dampening field that kept her from doing that. Slade knew them all to well. The battle continued and the floor was strewn with the ruin and wreckage of the destroyed robots. She was beginning to feel the fatigue sinking in and remembered that there were many more robots still below.

Exhaustion was beginning to set in for them when suddenly no more robots came up the stairs.

"Did we win?" The changeling, who was panting, asked.

"That can't be it. There are more Sladbots down there. We can't drop our guard now."

They both focused, using the fatigue suppression techniques that Robin taught them to recover. They both breathed slow and deeply, while focusing on the inevitable next wave of robots. They were separated by about 20 meters when suddenly gas was spewed into the room.

Raven instinctively raised a bubble around herself, but was too weak to extend it as far as her husband. As the gas thickened she could no longer see him. She then heard a sound that made her blood curdle. Beast Boy began to laugh, slowly at first then uncontrollably.

"Gar!" She shouted out to him, but he continued to laugh. Then the room fell silent.

The gas was still thick and she couldn't see anything beyond her bubble.

"Gar! Answer me!"

Raven then heard another laugh. She immediately recognized it. She had heard it on recordings before, but hearing it in person made her blood freeze.

The Joker continued his maniacal laughter. The gas began to clear and Raven was able to see two Sladebots carrying her unconscious husband into the elevator, which was now unblocked. The Joker, who appeared to be immune to the noxious fumes, tipped his hat to Raven before entering the elevator. Raven felt panic wash over her. If she dropped her shield there was still enough Joker gas to knock her out.

"If you harm him, you'll regret ever being born, clown!"

The Joker blew Raven a kiss, then said. "Don't worry, my little witch, Harley and I will take good care of him!" He resumed laughing as the elevator doors closed.

It wasn't safe for Raven to drop her bubble for five more minutes. She rode the elevator to the main level. All of the dog food production workers were gone, they probably were all henchmen, part of a carefully crafted deception. She clenched her fists as she fought back the tears, realizing that it had been a trap, and they fell for it. And to make matters even worse, Slade was now working with the Joker, and who knew who else.

She reached out with her senses, and was able to feel him. He was already over a mile away. She ran outside and found a large Jack in the Box waiting for her. It began to crank itself and she raised her shield again and not a moment too soon, as the box exploded.

She dropped her shield and her eyes had now split into two crimson pairs.

"You're a dead man."

She took to the sky, flying as fast as she could, following the changeling's psychic trail before it faded away. She then reached for her communicator and dialed up Nightwing. His masked face appeared on the screen.

"Raven, what's wrong? Is Beast Boy OK?"

"The Joker has him. I'm on my way to rescue him."

Dick's face paled when he heard the news.

"Raven, whatever you do, don't engage him on your own. Wait for us."

"I'll activate a transponder when I get there, but I'm not waiting. I'm not giving that monster a chance to hurt Gar."

"Raven, it's another trap. Wait for us. It's too dangerous to face him on your own."

She shut off her communicator and increased her speed. When she was done with The Joker, he wouldn't be laughing, not any more.

 _ **-(-)-**_

I think we were overdue for a cliffhanger.

Sorry for the delay in this update. I've been away on vacation and before that I was working on my BBRae week entries (first time for me). I promise not to keep you waiting this long again.


	12. Chapter 12

A full moon shone through the large window, which was missing a pane, and a cool breeze blew in through it. The lights were out and room was a jungle of dark shadows. It was also silent, except for the sound of a coin being repeatedly flipped, its whistling sound breaking the silence over and over.

"Harvey, would you please stop flipping that stupid coin?" Pamela Isley asked in a cross tone.

Two Face complied and stepped out a shadow into the moonlight, his precious coin clutched into his clenched fist.

"I don't like this, I don't like this at all." Dent snarled.

"None of us do." Killer Moth interjected.

"Who asked you, loser?" Two Face growled. "Why is this idiot even here?"

"Because Deathstroke invited him." Cobblepott interjected in his squawky voice.

"Since when do we do as Deathstroke says?"

The Riddler stepped into the moonlight. "What is the difference between a live man and a ..."

"Not now, Edward!" Pamela shushed him in an icy voice.

"Riddler has a point." The Scarecrow remarked. "Fear is my specialty, and I know we're all afraid of Deathstroke."

"Mister J isn't afraid of him." Harley remarked in huff.

"That's because he's crazy." Poison Ivy replied bitterly. "And he just captured the Changeling and is bringing him here … you know what that means?"

"It means Batman is coming here, with his team and those Titans too." Dent deadpanned as he resumed flipping his coin.

"Will the witch be coming too?" Killer moth gulped.

"Of course she is, you idiot." Mr. Freeze replied in his emotion free deadpan.

The room fell silent. Killer moth moved towards the window and peeked outside, before Harley grabbed him and yanked back into the shadows.

"We gotta get out of here, before it's too late." He shrieked

"No one is leaving." A familiar baritone echoed in the room. "Not until I say so."

Everyone froze. Killer Moth let a girlish eep escape his lips before Harley shoved him aside. All eyes were focus on the corner from where the voice came from. Slade walked into the moonlight with a confident swagger and stance. The other villains eyed him suspiciously, but no one moved. Harvey continued flipping his coin, before speaking in his raspy voice

"The bug's right. We're askin' for trouble. There's no way we can defend this place, Deathstroke."

"Please, call me Slade. Deathstroke, that's not my name anymore."

"Fine, Slade, I don't know about the others, but I ain't staying here waiting to get busted. We ain't got no henchman here and where are those robots you promised us?"

"Hear, hear!" The Penguin shouted. "Give us one good reason to stay?"

Slade reached behind his back and produced one of his collapsible bo staffs. He pressed a button and it extended to full length. He twirled it and adopted a fighting stance.

"You're free to quit our little team, if you can get past me."

Dent frowned at the masked man and flipped his coin high in the air. It made its whistling sound as it traveled in an arc on its way to the floor.

"Heads we kill him, tails we don't."

Slade swung his staff with lightning speed, so quickly that it was a blur and hit the coin as it fell, sending it into the shadows. Two Face pulled a pistol out of his coat. "OK, now you've officially pissed me off."

Pamela ran up to him and grabbed his arm. "Harvey, don't!"

"Why not? I've got a gun and he just has a stick."

Slade stared at Dent, motionless. Killer Moth and The Riddler quietly retreaded into the shadows. The Penguin began to raise his umbrella and aimed it at Slade, who tightened his grip on his staff. Isley looked at Cobblepott and shook her head. The Penguin bit his lower lip and lowered his weapon. Harley not only seemed completely unperturbed, she was actually grinning. Cobblepott had long thought the harlequin was as crazy as a sack of ferrets, if not as crazy as the Joker himself, he was was now convinced that she was indeed insane. Crane crossed his arms, staring through the burlap sack that covered his head. Dent glared at his fellow villains.

"You're all a bunch of lily livered cowards … I'll take care of Slade myself."

He raised his pistol and aimed it at Slade. He clenched his teeth as he pulled the trigger.

Slade leaped into the air with superhuman speed and power. He twirled and flipped, he staff making a humming sound as it twirled with him. Two Face raised his gun, aiming at Slade's moving figure, firing several times. Before he landed, Slade struck the pistol with his staff, sending it into the shadows, where it clattered as it landed. Dent clutched his stung hand, which Slade had struck with his staff and stepped back in to the shadows.

"Your little rebellion is over, Dent. You have two choices, you can fall into line with the others, or ..."

"You win, Deathstroke, you win."

"Good, let this not happen again. Next time I won't be so forgiving."

The Scare Crow, his arms still crossed, cleared his throat. "So, Slade; I trust there is a plan behind all this."

Slade retracted his staff and stowed it away. "My good fellow … I always have a plan."

 _ **-( - )-**_

Raven's cape fluttered wildly behind her as she zoomed through the sky. Her teeth were clenched in furious anger and her balled fists punched through the air like a battering ram. The last time she flew this fast was when she was running for her life from a demonically enhanced Slade. Everything around her was a blur, her only guide being the changeling's weak psychic trail. She could also sense another trail, one that was on a parallel course. This one reeked of laughter as well as sheer insanity and evil. Her face twisted even more in anger as she felt his demented aura, laughing at her, taunting her over her incompetence, her inability to protect her mate.

Raven summoned ever last bit of her power and increased her velocity. She had no idea of her speed, which was in excess of 300 km/hr. Garfield's aura suddenly became stronger and stronger, meaning she was closing in. Her eyes split into 4 crimson orbs and her teeth became serrated. No one messed with the property of Trigon's daughter, and if they dared , there would be Hell to pay, in the most literal sense of the word.

Soon enough she was flying over The Narrows, Gotham's hive of scum and villainy. It was expected that the trail would lead her there. Where else would a madman like the Joker hang out? She began to slow down as Gar's aura strength began to grow quickly. She was nearing her destination.

While Raven was furious, she was still a Titan, trained by Robin in the nuances of crime fighting,and she began to mentally prepare herself for her arrival. Soon enough she reached her destination, an old and dilapidated apartment building that had been condemned years ago, as many other buildings were in The Narrows. The city's official plan was to tear everything down and rebuild The Narrows into a genteel, gentrified neighborhood, one with coffee shops, Thai restaurants, art galleries and chic boutiques. The renovation never happened, most likely due to corruption and incompetence at almost every level at city hall. Also, some civic leaders were afraid to tear down The Narrows, likening such an act to throwing rocks at a hornets' nest. While the criminals did not recuse themselves to that area, they spent most of their time there, and for many Gothamites that was good enough. So The Narrows was left untouched.

As she arrived she quietly landed on the roof of another building that was across the street and quickly hid herself behind a chimney. While every fiber in her body wanted to simply burst into the building, she understood that she needed a plan. She remained hidden, panting in exhaustion from her expended effort, as she studied her target. It was a six story tenement style apartment build, with a grimy brick facade, broken windows and old school fire escapes on it. The building was completely dark and silent, but she could sense that there were several people inside, including Gar and the wretched Joker.

She wracked her brain, trying to remember everything Robin once told her about the Joker. She recalled him saying that the Clown of Crime was the deadliest and most dangerous foe he ever faced, that is until they faced Trigon himself. Three of his words rang in her mind:

"Expect the unexpected." She whispered in a hush.

"I'm glad to see that Nightwing has already told you about the Joker. He wasn't exaggerating." A deep voice startled her. Raven, her eyes still split and red, whirled around, her fists balled and encased in her eldritch power.

"Batman." She muttered in an otherworldly, guttural voice.

The Dark Knight, Batgirl and Damien emerged from the rooftop shadows. Raven frowned, as she did not sense the presence when she arrived. Either they were very good at hiding their psychic presence, or she was getting sloppy in her rage.

"I understand why you want to rush in there and rescue your husband. Believe me, right now that is the worst thing you could do. They are expecting you and have almost certainly set a trap. We need to wait for the others to arrive."

A harsh curse escaped from her lips, as she knew Bruce as right.

"You don't expect me to stand here and do nothing? Who knows what he's doing to Gar."

"What do you sense?" He asked her. "Take your time, calm yourself first."

Raven heaved an exasperated groan, but closed her eyes and began to softly chant her mantra.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos, Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos ..."

She did this for almost a whole minute. The others watched as her eyes became just two and then reverted to their usual indigo coloration. She stopped chanting and raised her index and middle fingers to her temples, breathing deeply as she did.

"So, what are you sensing?"

She dropped her hands to her sides. "Gar is safe and unharmed, but he is very angry … I think he's worried about me."

Batman narrowed his eyes and seemed to glare at the building. "Deathstroke knows you can sense things, so we have to be careful. Can you link telepathically with your husband?"

"I think I can, but it's very difficult."

"Give it your best try. Let him know that you're OK and that we're planning a rescue. Learn everything you can. Never forget, Raven, knowledge is power."

She nodded and once again raised her hands to her temples.

 _ **-( - )-**_

Sorry for the delay, I completely forgot about about BBRae week and was busy with that.


	13. Chapter 13

Beads of sweat trickled down Raven's forehead. Her eyes were shut. Her index and middle fingers pressed against her temples and her thumbs were propped on her cheeks. Nightwing noticed that her body was trembling ever so slightly as the fatigue was beginning to set in. Cindy and Starfire stood quietly, Damien stepped up next to Cindy and took her hand, interlacing his fingers with hers and she softly squeezed back in acknowledgment without taking her eyes off of Raven. Cyborg was busy scanning the building with his sensors, with Batgirl at his side. He quickly looked at her and shook his head, and she understood that he wasn't able to detect anything.

Raven dropped her hands in a gesture of defeat.

"I can't reach him … I'm not sure why. I've been able to do this before."

"Is he hurt?" Cindy asked.

"I know he's not, if he was I would be able to feel his pain."

"Is he still angry?" Batman asked.

"He is. I wish I knew why."

 _ **-( - )-**_

Slade retracted his staff and stowed it away. "My good fellow … I always have a plan."

"Would you mind sharing it with us?" Ivy asked.

Before Slade could answer, a maniacal laugh echoed outside of the room.

Harley clasped her hands and grinned like a mad woman. "Mister J is back!"

A pair of French doors burst open and the Joker pranced into the room, followed by Punch, or was it Judy? Even the Joker had a hard time telling the two gorilla sized henchmen apart. The over sized thug was carrying the changeling over his shoulder and tossed him onto the hardwood floor, which creaked as Beast Boy's bounced of it. He groaned in pain, but only for a second as he wouldn't give them the satisfaction. With great effort he rolled over and sat up, quickly taking in his surroundings. He looked around the room and saw the collection of Gotham's not so finest surrounding him. The Joker took a stage bow.

"Delivered, as promised."

Harley approached the changeling, taking a good look at him and giggled.

"After we kill the Bats and the Titans, can I keep him? He's cute."

Cobblepott warily eyed the prisoner. He approached the changeling and poked him with his umbrella. The changeling, who was still tied up, lunged and snarled at the Penguin, who backed away from him.

"Deathstroke, are you sure this collar really cancels his powers? I've seen video footage of when he turns into that Beast thing."

"So have I." Ivy added.

"His powers are under control. You have my guarantee." Slade replied in a calm baritone.

Pamela Isley gave him a skeptical look. "Not that I don't believe you, but I would like some insurance, just in case."

"You're wasting your time." Slade chided her.

"We'll see about that."

Poison Ivy approached the changeling and knelt before him. He remained bound hand and foot and was having a difficult time remaining seated.

"What do you want?" He growled at her.

She frowned at him. "You of all people should know that I love things that are green."

"I'm not one of your monster plants."

She raised her palm in front of his face and blew. A cloud of sparkling pollen formed a cloud around his head. He inhaled some and began to cough.

"I know, but now you're mine."

His coughing fit continued for several seconds, he then glared at her.

"Like hell I am."

Pamela stepped away from him, unable to conceal her astonishment.

"I told you it wouldn't work." Slade announced in his monotone.

Beast Boy looked at his team's long time nemesis.

"What's your deal, Slade? Why did you kidnap me?"

"Isn't it obvious, Logan? You're bait."

"The Titans won't fall for your trap."

Harley grabbed one of his cheeks and pinched it. He jerked his face away from her hand, giving her glare worthy of his wife.

"Your witch girlfriend will fall for it." She sneered. "Oh Beastie Boy, you could do so much better than her."

"What did you call her?"

"I called her a witch, because she's creepier than Dr. Crane. Why are you dating her anyway?"

"I'm not dating her, she's my wife!"

Slade chuckled. "Thanks for sharing that with us, Logan. Though to be honest, I already knew."

"You're lying, there's no way you could have known."

Slade pulled a small video tape cartridge out of his utility belt. "Wayne Manor isn't as secure as Pennyworth thinks it is."

The changeling scowled. "What's on the tape?"

Slade focused on the cassette, twirling it between his fingers.

"Nothing special, just a recording of when you and Raven consummated your marriage."

Beast Boy, who was still bound, lashed out at Slade, but fell to the ground. He looked up and glared at his arch enemy.

"You're gonna pay for that!"

Two Face, who had said nothing since Beast Boy's arrival, finally spoke up.

"Isn't she an empath? She's gotta be able to sense his anger."

The Joker wrapped an arm Dent's shoulder. "That's the plan, Harvey. But we're just getting started with the fun, and it's going to be hilarious!"

Slade nodded at the Scarecrow, who approached the changeling.

"With the information Slade gave me about you body chemistry, I've prepared a special batch made just for you."

Dr. Crane pulled a small syringe out of the coat and quickly thrust it into Beast Boy's arm, and injected the toxin into him.

"If you thought that Wicked Scary movie was frightening, you're in for an unpleasant surprise."

The Scarecrow backed away as the changeling quickly blinked his eyes. His surroundings began to change, bending and going out of focus. He shook his head, but it didn't help clear things first thing he noticed was that Quinn was beginning to look like Raven. He shook his head again, telling himself that it was a hallucination. But the transformation was perfect and soon he wasn't so sure anymore.

"Raven?"

She didn't respond, but he gasped when he saw that her hands began to transform into razor sharp claws. Her hood fell and he saw a hag's face, with bulging, gelatinous eyes. Her body began to change into a hideous demon. He stared, mesmerized with fear.

"No, this isn't real. It's the drug you injected in me."

The villains watched as Garfield continued to recoil in horror at Harley.

"What's he seeing?" Cobblepott asked. "He said he was married to the witch. Crane, I thought your toxins make people see what they fear the most."

"Raven isn't a witch, she's something far worse, and he's seeing it." Slade calmly replied as Beast Boy began to scream in terror.

 _ **-( - )-**_

Raven's eyes suddenly widened with fear. Her body began to tremble.

"Raven, what's wrong?" Nightwing asked.

"They're doing something to him, he's terrified!" Shed looked at her leader. "I have to go to him."

She raised her arms and assumed her spectral form, of a large black bird, and took off.

"Raven! Come back!" Batman shouted at her, but she did not respond, and vanished into the building. Cindy immediately followed suit, assuming the form of a bird and followed Raven.

"They're going into a trap." The Dark Knight growled.

"Which is why they need our help!" Damien shouted as he fired his grappling gun.

"Robin! Do not follow them!" Batman barked, but it was in vain. He too was gone.

"Titans, Go!" Nightwing shouted, firing his own grappling gun. Starfire took of like a missile and Cyborg jumped off the building and ran towards the hideout as soon as his metal feet hit the ground.

Batman, who now only had Batgirl at his side, fired his own grappling gun and swung towards the apartment building, followed by Barbara.

"This is why I don't approve of romantic relationships between superheroes."

She swung next to him.

"I've got news for you, Damien's in love with Logan's cousin."

"Don't remind me." He growled in reply just before smashing through a window and entering the building.

 _ **-( - )-**_

A black hemisphere rose from the floor, its signature hum echoed in the dark room. It melted away, revealing an anxious looking half demoness. While she couldn't see much in the room, which was a lattice of shadows, her empathic senses required no light to be effective. She knew he was in the room, she could taste his fear and terror as if it were a meal. And she recognized the flavor immediately: it was her spouse and no one else.

Remembering the tiny flashlight that Robin made them keep in their utility belts she pulled hers out and turned it on. She scanned the room and quickly found him, in a corner, lying on the floor, turned away from her. She bolted toward him, leaping over his bound and supine form, cupping his face in her hands.

"What did they do to you?" She asked as she used her powers to free him and destroy the power cancellation collar. He raised his head to look at her. His eyes widened and he screamed in terror, crawling away from her as quickly as he could.

"Gar, it's me."

The terror he was feeling washed over her like a wave, soaking her psyche with the primal fear he was experiencing. She raised her hands in a submissive gesture as she slowly approached him.

"It's OK, I'm here now, you're safe."

He continued doing a crab crawl as he backed away from her, until he hit a corner and was trapped. She slowly continued to approach him, speaking in a soothing tone.

"You don't have to be afraid, I'm here now. Everything is going to be OK."

"Stay away from me, monster!" He shouted as he pointed at her.

Suddenly, it all came together, she understood what was happening.

"Gar, you been poisoned by the Scarecrow. I know I look like a monster to you, but it's me, your Raven."

He quickly shook his head. "No, you're not Raven. You're trying to trick me."

She slowly continued to approach him, extending her arm to him.

"Gar, take my hand, everything will be fine, the toxin will wear off; but I need to get you out of here."

He stared at her hand as his jaw quivered. And then she saw it. It was always the eyes that changed first, into the primal, savage eyes the signaled it was about to happen.

She had seen The Beast appear more than once, but never before had she seen such a rapid transformation. This time it only took a few seconds for the metamorphosis to complete and before she knew the Beast hit her with a fierce back hand strike. Had she been a mere mortal the blow would have killed her. She slammed into a wall, crumbling the plaster on it before she slumped to the floor. All she could see were stars and every bone in her body ached. Her ears ringing and she tasted blood in her mouth. She tried to stand up but her legs would not obey her. As she struggled to recover she felt a huge hand wrap itself around her narrow waist. It lifted her and she could smell its breath on her face. She managed to open her eyes and saw the Beast staring at her. It then began to sniff her. She opened her mouth and spoke.

"I love you."

The Beast froze and blinked several times before gently laying her down on the floor. She breathed laboriously, as she still tried to recover, her eyes screwed shut. Suddenly, she felt a normally sized human hand on her cheek.

"Rave, are you OK?"

She opened her eyes and saw his green, human and now very concerned face.

"I am now."

 _ **-( - )-**_


	14. Chapter 14

Damien was swinging from his tether, following Cindy, who flew through an open window in the building and vanished into its dark interior. The window was only partially open and the gap was too small for the young Robin, who without blinking an eye crashed through it, adroitly landing on his feet in a fighting stance. The first thing he saw was Cindy, back in her human form, looking around the room, which looked mostly empty.

"Hey! Next time wait for me." He growled at her.

"What?"

"You heard me. You just took off blindly, you could fallen in trap!"

"I know what I'm doing."

"No, you don't. You think Nightwing's trained you, but you're still a neophyte."

She glared at him. "I've been on missions, real missions, I'm not a rookie anymore."

His teeth clenched, Damien looked away as he scanned the room. "There's nothing here."

"I could have told you that." She snapped at him.

Three Slade-Bots burst into the room. They had laser pistols in their hands and were focused on Cindy, who was closest to them. They bolted towards her and she morphed into a gorilla. She swung an arm back, preparing to sway them when she heard a buzzing sound. Three batarangs found their target and electrified the bots, paralyzing them. They crashed onto the floor.

"I had it under control." She growled, back in her human form. "Why are you protecting me? I'm a Teen Titan."

"I'm not protecting you."

Cindy shook her head, but said nothing.

"This way." He gestured at the door, before running through it. She rolled her eyes before following him.

"Do you have any idea where Gar is?" She asked.

"I'm sure Raven's already with him." He tapped a button on the sleeve computer he wore on his left forearm. A holographic map popped up, with their teammates locations on it. Raven was represented by the bird symbol she had on the cloak's clasp. "She's on the other side of the building." He said as he took off running. She morphed into a cheetah and ran after him. He was remarkably fast for a biped, she thought to herself. His cape billowed behind him as he ran, exposing his youthful but muscular physique. The green cheetah grinned as she caught up with him, but stayed behind him.

 _He has a nice butt. He is easy on the eyes, at least when he isn't scowling._

It suddenly occurred to Cindy that he reminded her of a certain violet haired sister in law of hers.

They continued running down the long hallway, encountering no resistance. They turned a corner and continued to run, until they reached a door. He leaped in the air, and with a flying side kick he smashed the wooden door into bits and flew into the room.

The changeling, who was helping Raven get on her feet, smiled when he saw his cousin. Cindy took off running towards him wrapping her arms around him as she reached him.

"You're OK!"

"He's not." Raven interrupted. "The Scarecrow poisoned him. We need to get him back to the Batcave for medical treatment, he still has some of the toxin in him."

Damien looked around the room. "This was too easy."

"Gar morphed into the Beast. He almost killed me because the toxin made him think I was a monster. Fortunately being in that form, the toxin partially wore off and Gar recognized me. I'd hardly call that too easy."

Damien shook his head. "Then why is no one here, fighting us?"

"Maybe, they're afraid of us." Cindy interjected.

"I don't think so." He replied.

"If Slade is involved ..." Raven began to speak.

"Then there's a trap!" Damien finished her sentence as he tapped on his earpiece. "Batman, Batgirl, can you read me? Batman!" He repeated his hail more than once. He then looked at Raven.

"We're being jammed! It's a trap."

"We'd better get out of her." Cindy remarked.

"We have to warn the others!" Gar shouted.

Damien pulled a flash light out of he belt and began to scan the room. He noticed a duffel bag tucked away in a corner. He ran to it and zipped it open. It was stuffed with explosives connected to a timer, which was seconds away from detonating.

"It's a bomb, one big enough to flatten this building and everyone in it! It's ready to explode!"

Raven spread her arms, readying to open a portal. Before she could finish her task, Cindy morphed into a gorilla, grabbed the bag and crashed through a window.

"Cindy! Wait!" Damien shouted.

As soon as she was outside she morphed into a pteranodon, and with the bag in her talons she flew away into the darkness, disappearing in the night.

"What is she doing!?" Damien shrieked.

He was about to follow her out the window when a flash, followed by a loud explosion, lit up the sky. Before the glare faded away, they saw something fall into the river.

"CINDY!" Damien screamed as he shot out the window, followed by Raven and the Changeling.

 _ **-( - )-**_

The sound of an electrocardiograph echoed in the Batcave. A heavily bandaged figure rested in a med station, with IV's plugged in, delivering saline solution and various medications.

Raven sat in a chair, reading a book, occasionally checking the various vital signs before sitting back down with her book. The sound of a clock ticking was the only break in the silence. Raven had been watching over her for hours. She continued to read until she was interrupted.

"What happened?" A dry voiced whispered in a raspy tone.

Raven closed her book and stood up.

"You almost got yourself killed."

Cindy tried to sit up. She was breathing laboriously

"You need to rest, you're still pretty beat up." Raven said as she gently pushed back down.

"The bomb …"

"That was incredibly stupid of you. Remember when we trained? We dispose of bombs using one of my portals: procedure 138A. We practiced that several times, or did you forget?"

"I remember."

"So why did you do something so boneheaded?"

"I didn't think."

"That much is obvious. If you had held on to that duffel bag for just one more second you'd be dead. I was pure luck that you dropped it before it exploded. Do you have any idea of how that would have affected Gar or myself … or Damien for that matter."

Cindy's vision was still blurry. She blinked repeatedly to clear it.

"Where are they?"

"You've been out for almost 4 days. Gar's in our room, asleep. It's my turn to keep watch over you. I was wondering if you'd ever wake up."

"What about Damien?"

"He's been watching over you too."

"He has? Where is he?"

"Right here." Raven gestured to the other med station. Damien was sound asleep on the bed. "He hasn't left your side."

Cindy gently turned her neck and saw him, still in his Robin costume. A small chuckle escaped her lips.

"I was beginning to wonder if he ever slept."

"He was up for over 70 hours,worried sick about you. Like I said, he never left your side."

Raven saw a tear form in Cindy's eye.

"You did it for him, didn't you?"

"I did … for you and Gar too."

"So you love him?"

"I … guess I do."

A tiny smile formed on Raven's face. "I'm not an expert on these matters, but I think you found a keeper."

"You mean?"

"The one."

At that very moment Damien stirred. He opened his eyes and leaped to his feet.

"You're awake!" He voice trembled. Raven raised her hood, concealing a grin that was forming on her face.

"I'll leave the two of you alone."

"Where are you going?" Cindy asked.

"I'm overdue for some quality time with my husband. Now if you'll excuse me." She said as she stepped into the elevator.

"Quality time, what do you mean by that?" Damien asked.

"Use your imagination." She replied as the elevator's doors closed.

"Too much information." He growled at the closed doors, but immediately turned his focus back to Cindy.

"How are you feeling?"

"I've been better."

The room fell silent for a couple of minutes, as they stared into each others' eyes.

"What you did, that was stupid."

"Raven already read me the riot act."

"Well, now it's my turn."

She closed her eyes and turned away. "I'm sorry."

"What would have I done had you died?"

"I said I was sorry."

"Could you at least look at me when you say that?"

She complied. "I'm sorry. I didn't want you to die."

He sighed unhappily, looking as gloomy as the shadowy and dark cave around them.

"I don't want you to die either. Cindy … this is the first time since I've been with my father that I've been scared. I thought I was gonna lose you,"

Again silenced ruled the Batcave.

"So, what does this mean?" She asked him.

He looked away, looking very anxious and nervous. He looked back at her.

"I just want you to know, I've never done this before. In fact, I thought I'd never do it."

"Do what?" She asked.

With no warning he leaned over and pressed his lips to hers. She closed her eyes and suddenly nothing on her body seemed to hurt anymore. Damien then pulled away, breathing heavily. At first she looked utterly surprised, but then she smiled at him.

"So, Damien Wayne, is there anything you aren't good at?"

He leaned in and kissed her again.

 _ **-( - )-**_

Raven entered the cavernous guest room in the manor. She learned about the security breach at the manor but was never informed about the extent of the infiltration, all she knew was that Cyborg, along with Alfred's help, had gone over the entire mansion with a fine toothed comb and after a long day pronounced that it was "clean." Gar never told her, or anyone else, about the tape Slade had in his possession, or to be more accurate, still had in his possession. He made an oath to himself to recover and destroy the tape someday. Of course Slade and the Gotham villains vanished into thin air after their scheme failed.

The room was quiet and dark, except for a few smoldering embers in the fireplace that occasionally snapped and crackled. She stopped in front of it, and stared into the remains of the fire which provided almost no light. She didn't like fire, as it brought back too many unpleasant memories, memories related to her father.

"Rave?" His sleepy voice called out.

She glided over to the bed and landed next to it.

"I'm back." She said as she removed her cloak and kicked off her signature blue boots.

He sat up in the bed. "I guess that means it's my shift now."

"Damien's with her, you don't have to go now." She said as she unzipped her leotard. It made a soft thud as hit the floor.

"Oh, OK … I wish she'd wake up."

"She did … scoot over."

"She's up!?"

"And she's with Damien."

He began to get out of bed, but she gently pushed him back in. "Hey, I wanna go see her now."

She slid into bed with him. "I think they want to be alone."

"Alone? Whadya mean 'alone'?"

She snuggled up next to him. "You mean you don't know?"

"Know what?"

She kissed him gently before replying. "They're in love."

"No, they're not! What are you talking about?"

"Uh, yes they are. And the last thing they want is for you to go barging in right now. They're having a tender moment and you shouldn't spoil it, and believe me, you have a knack for spoiling moments. You can see her in the morning."

He sat up again. "How come I didn't know about this? She's my cousin, I mean, I'm her guardian"

"I'll tell you why. It's because sometimes you're completely clueless."

Simce it was dark, so she couldn't see his face very well, but she could sense his indignation.

"That's not true, I'm not clueless. When am I ever clueless?"

"Well, right now for starters."

"Right now? What are you talking about?"

She gently cupped his face with her palm.

"Let me spell it out for you. Right now, your very naked and very aroused wife is lying in bed next to you, but you want to run down into the Batcave and be a third wheel instead of making passionate love with me."

His mouth opened, but for a moment no sound came out.

"OK, you make a good point."

"I always do … so are you going to ravage me, or what?"

She sensed a wave of lust emanate from him. "I love the way you think, mama."

They embraced and began to kiss very passionately, their passion escalating rapidly, rolling around and getting ready to escalate to the next step, until he suddenly stopped.

"Did you say she's in love with Damien!?"

"Gar … stay on target."

"Sorry, mama."

 _ **-(-)-**_

Sounds like BB isn't too keen on Damien joining the Logan family.

Next chapter is the final one. Sorry about the delay, but I've been very busy.


	15. Chapter 15

_A few days later …_

Raven was feeling an emotion that was rare for her. The last time she felt it was when Terra had briefly been a Titan, not to mention been the object of Beast Boy's affections. Ever since her father's defeat she became more comfortable with her own emotions, but envy and jealousy were not her cup of herbal tea.

She was actually sipping a cup of herbal tea, and was surrounded by the source of her envy: The Wayne Library's private collection. The room, which as in the west wing of Wayne Manor, was twice as big as the common room back in the Tower, and its collection was second to none. It contained manuscripts that would normally only be found in a museum, meaning that they would be off limits to a non-credentialed scholar such as herself. Bruce told her that she could avail herself of the library whenever she chose. It was a generous offer, but one she knew that she would rarely have the chance to exercise, given the vast distance between Jump City and Gotham. Her sole consolation was that Bruce told her she could take as many books back as she wished with her to Jump City on loan. She had already selected 30 tomes, and stopped at that number as she didn't wish to push her luck.

She put down her tea and picked up one of the ancient books, carefully examining it with the utmost reverence. The room's door suddenly creaked open, revealing Alfred Pennyworth's slim figure. He approach Raven and saw the books she had selected, which were neatly arranged on a desk next to her.

"An excellent selection, Miss Raven. I for one am glad that you will enjoy reading them. I have special packaging to protect them during shipment on the T-Ship, and I will be more than happy to pack them for you."

She handed the book she was holding to him, a treatise on the grammar of ancient Sumerian. "Thank you, Mr. Pennyworth. You are always so kind and attentive."

A small smile appeared on the butler's face. "Please, just call me Alfred. Mr. Pennyworth is my father's name."

She returned his smile. "Only if you call me Raven, without the 'Miss' before it."

He frowned. "That would be highly irregular, not to mention bad manners … but if you insist."

"I do."

"Perhaps I could call you Mrs. Logan?"

"That is Gar's mother's name."

"It is also your name."

She instinctively raised her hood. "Maybe someday I'll be ready for it."

Alfred had many talents, one of which was reading body language. Even had she not raised her hood he knew that she didn't want to discuss whether or not she was worthy of the title of Mrs. Logan.

"Understandable, but please, there is no need to hide your lovely face.." He replied. "That said, there is something I would like to give to you."

He opened a drawer in another desk and pulled out an old magazine, a science journal that had long since ceased publication. It had a page bookmarked and Alfred opened it to the page before handing it to Raven, who gave him a curious look before turning her attention to the page.

It was an article on anti-viral serum research, and the science in it was beyond her understanding. But there was a small picture in the article, of a couple with a small baby, and it looked familiar. It was only then that she noticed the names of the authors: Dr.'s Mark and Marie Logan. Her eyes widened.

"This a picture of Gar with his parents."

Alfred silently nodded and patted her hand. Raven locked eyes with him, then lowered her gaze and scanned the article. Her eyes danced across the page as she quickly read it.

"I'm not a biologist, but this research, this is what the serum that saved him from Sakutia is based on." She whispered. "Gar has almost no relics from his parents, just a few faded photos … seeing this will mean so much to him."

"I was hoping that it would." He replied. "It's yours to keep."

"Thank you."

"You are most welcome, Miss … I mean Raven. Also, I am here to tell you that Master Bruce is having a confab in the Batcave and you are expected to join it."

She nodded and and after thanking him again she headed for the door and was gone. Alfred began to pack the books and glanced at the now closed door.

"If only Master Bruce could find someone like her … Master Garfield is a fortunate man." He mumbled to himself as he continued to pack.

 _ **-(-)-**_

Raven was the last to arrive. Everyone else, including Cindy, was already seated around a large conference table. She apologized for being late and took a seat next to her husband, who gave her a warm smile. Bruce was in costume, but wasn't wearing his cowl. His expression hinted at frustration. He rose to address the assembled team.

"I'll keep this short. My intelligence sources indicate that Slade has left Gotham. While we don't know where he went, it's very likely that he has gone to Jump City. Whatever coalition Slade formed with the locals appears to have dissolved after their trap for us failed. They have all gone under the radar and vanished, though it will be only a matter of time before they begin to resurface … anyway, I'm afraud we failed our mission."

Nightwing was leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed. Slade's escape, though a familiar occurrence, still irritated him. "Bruce, is there anything else you need from us?"

"No, you can return to Jump City. In fact you should go immediately as Slade is no doubt already there. Thank you for your assistance, all of you."

The Titans rose from their seats, but Bruce gestured for them to wait.

"There is another matter which I would like to discuss with all of you. Please sit down."

Gar frowned and leaned over to his mate.

"I have a bad feeling about this." He whispered to her.

Bruce leaned forward on the table. "Alfred, Barbara, Damien and I have been discussing a potentially sensitive matter, one which affects the Titans"

He paused before continuing. "We would like to invite Cindy to join our team."

"What!?" All five Titans shrieked in one voice. Cindy, who had recovered from her injuries, said nothing, but looked pleasantly surprised. Damien leaned over to her.

"Sorry, I couldn't tell you before. I was sworn to secrecy."

Nightwing glared at his former mentor. "Are you serious? But above all, why? Cindy's already a Titan."

Damien leaped to his feet.

"First of all, and no offense to the Titans, but we can train her better than you can, and she needs it."

"Offense taken!" Gar snarled back, before Raven placed a calming hand on his shoulder, empathically absorbing his anger and guiding him back down into his seat. He did send a mild glare Damien's way, despite Raven's best efforts to calm him.

"You've got the hots for her, that's what this is all about. Admit it."

Damien glared back at him. "Don't be so coarse about it, Logan. And don't deny that that you have carnal feelings for Raven."

"Excuse me, Raven is my wife, in case you forgot!"

"I am aware of that fact. What makes you think that my intentions are any less noble than yours?"

Gar crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. "Why? Because you're you!"

"Don't be obtuse, Logan. It doesn't suit you."

Gar then looked at Bruce and Alfred. "And you guys are on board with this?"

Alfred cleared his throat. "Master Damien threatened to move to Jump City if we didn't agree." As soon as he said that both Damien and Bruce glared at him.

"What!? Are you kidding me? What are you? Some kind of stalker! You leave Cindy alone!" Gar growled.

"Stop!" Raven shouted in a very authoritative tone.

Damien and Gar desisted from their argument and looked at her.

"Aren't we forgetting something? Shouldn't we ask Cindy what she would like to do?" Raven interjected.

All eyes were now on the younger changeling.

"Go ahead, Cindy, tell Damien to get lost." Gar barked at her.

Cindy sweat dropped and looked around the table. Bruce and Alfred both had poker faces. Batgirl, Cyborg and Starfire were smiling. Nightwing and Raven looked calm and serene.

And Garfield looked like he would only accept one answer. Cindy gulped.

"Actually, I would like to stay." She said in a shy voice.

 _ **-(-)-**_

Garfield tossed his empty suitcase onto the bed and began shoving his clothes into it, with no rhyme or reason, while Raven calmly packed her own bag. Because of his haphazard technique his suitcase was poorly packed and wouldn't shut, despite repeated attempts on his part. With a huff of exasperation he gave up.

"Here, let me help you."

Before he could protest she used her powers to neatly fold everything and within a few moments everything was in his suitcase. He sighed and shut it, the lock making a sharp click.

"Thanks." He mumbled to her.

She wrapped an arm around his neck and pecked him softly on the lips. Her eyes looked warm and comforting. Raven had a well earned reputation for being harsh, but she could also be soft when necessary.

"Gar, don't take her decision personally. She isn't rejecting you."

"It sure feels like she is." He grumbled. "How could she possibly want to stay here … with HIM."

"Gar, I know it's hard for you to accept, but she isn't a child, not anymore."

"She's just sixteen. She's still a kid."

"You were only fifteen when you fell in love with Terra, remember?"

He was about to protest her remark, but he knew that while there were times it made sense to argue with his gray wife, that this wasn't one of them.

"Don't remind me … so what are you saying, Rave? That he's her Mr. Right?"

"Maybe he is. Look, Gar, everyone knows that Damien is …"

"A jerk"

"I was going to say obsessed. We all thought that Dick was obsessed and could think of nothing but fighting crime, until he finally admitted he loves Starfire."

"And you think Cindy is Damien's Starfire?"

"Gar, tell me you don't see it."

"Yeah, OK … maybe I do. That doesn't mean I have to like it. And if he lays a finger on her ..."

"He's a gentleman, I don' think that will happen, at least not until they're older."

He gave her a nasty glare, but said nothing."

"I think this is the right thing for her to do, she needs to get out from your shadow, plus Bruce and Damien will train her far better than we can."

He sat down on the edge of the bed. Sat sat down next to him. He looked unhappy and she could sense it as well.

"It'll be OK, Gar. I know you're being protective and that is your job. But much like we were at that age, Cindy has matured beyond her years."

An unhappy sound came out of his throat, which he cleared before speaking

"You know what this means, Rave?"

She gave him a quizzical look. "What does this mean?"

"We're going to be in-laws with the freaking Wayne's, the most compulsive/obsessive guys in the whole world,if not the whole universe."

"I thought that honor belonged to your adoptive father." She said with a hint of mischief in her voice.

Gar chuckled. "Bruce has Steve beat hands down."

"Maybe he does, but I can think of worse in laws."

"Such as?"

She shrugged. "Jinx comes to mind. Imagine if you had a brother and he married her."

Gar visibly shivered. "I see your point. Maybe Damien will be OK."

"He worships the ground she walks on. It'll be OK, Gar, everything will be fine. Anyway, we have other things to think about."

"We do?"

"Yes, we do. While our vows are considered legally binding in Azarath, in the eyes of any Earthly government we still aren't married. Plus I think our friends will want to attend a proper ceremony, not to mention Steve and Rita."

He groaned. "Star is going to make a super big deal out of this and invite half the world, and Steve and Rita are going to freak out."

"I know. I'm not crazy about it myself. Your parents can be rather intimidating when they want."

"So what are gonna do, Rave?" He asked as he looked lost in thought, then snapped his fingers. "I know what we can do! We can elope!"

"Elope? OK, that idea intrigues me. The question is when? Once we get home there will be missions and other distractions. There's no way we can sneak away."

He took her hand. "How about now?"

"You mean right now?"

"Yup, you can teleport us into Gotham and we take care of it before heading home. So what do you think?"

Raven looked him in the eyes and replied in her best deadpan: "Let's do it."

The End


End file.
